Home Health & Hospice Week

Watch for a legislative opportunity.

Home health agencies hoping for a quick fix to the face-to-face documentation fiasco from the Trump administration are still waiting.

On Jan. 20, President Trump issued an executive order titled “Minimizing The Economic Burden Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act Pending Repeal.” The order directs the Department of Health & Human Services Secretary to “exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the Act that would impose a fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications.”

Home care providers hoped that might be the avenue for F2F relief. But William Dombi, VP for law with the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, says no. “The only thing I see as in the mix with the EO that affects home care is the employer mandate penalty,” Dombi tells Eli.

But never fear, industry reps continue to work on a solution. “We are moving on a legislative fix,” Dombi reports. It won’t be easy, however. “Unfortunately, all the ACA repeal discussions are elements that do not include the program integrity measures, e.g. F2F,” Dombi explains. “Also, the nature of that provision is that it would not qualify to be part of a reconciliation bill, which is how Congress is trying to do a repeal with just 50 votes.”

Stay tuned for F2F developments as the ACA repeal saga unfolds.