Home Health & Hospice Week

Lawmaker negotiations over the U.S. deficit and government spending cuts continue, with Medicare providers offered up by the Obama administration as a possible place to make cuts.

That leaves home health copays squarely on the budget-cutting table, industry experts fear. 

It's not just providers who are against the concept of copays. Beneficiary advocates are also fighting the movement. "Proposals that shift costs to Medicare beneficiaries to save the federal government money will do exactly what they are expected to do -- cause people with Medicare, especially the half who have incomes under $22,000 a year, to avoid ... seeking ... necessary health care because they cannot afford to do so," says Medicare Rights Center president Joe Baker in a statement.

The bottom line: "The increased costs shouldered by patients would prevent them from using medical services," Baker says. "The supporters would have us believe that only unnecessary utilization would be prevented," he continues. "That's not true."