Home Health & Hospice Week

Would nominee favor a home health copay?

President Trump’s nominee for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services encountered some tough questions, but relatively little opposition, in a Feb. 16 confirmation hearing of the Senate Finance Committee.

Seema Verma’s vague answers to policy questions frustrated Democratic senators looking to allay coverage concerns and Republican senators seeking support for Medicaid block grants, according to press reports.

While Medicaid reform would seem to be the Trump administration and Verma’s first goal, a Medicare revamp may not be far behind. And based on the HIP program Verma helped implement in Indiana, it could feature cost sharing such as a home health copayment.

A CNN profile of Verma’s HIP work, featuring interviews with former Indiana governor Mitch Daniels, former CMS Administrator Tom Scully, and former Indiana Medicaid head Mitch Roob, emphasized Verma’s focus on “consumerism” and “having skin in the game” for beneficiaries.

On the other hand, the Indiana Medicaid program’s support of home care and hospice under Mike Pence may signal a recognition of the benefits as cost-saving services, suggests attorney Robert Markette Jr. with Hall Render in Indianapolis (see Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXV, No. 43).