Home Health & Hospice Week

A demonstration project for home-based primary care has been extended two years. Congress passed and President Obama signed legislation to prolong the Independence at Home Demonstration created by the Affordable Care Act.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced that the first year of the demo saved Medicare $25 million and reduced average hospital readmissions within 30 days. CMS is rewarding nine physician practices with $11.7 million in incentive payments as part of the program.

“These results support what most Americans already want — that chronically ill patients can be better taken care of in their own homes,” CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt says in a release.

The demo is “a good step in what needs to be an increased focus on home and community-based care,” says Val Halamandaris with the National Association for Home Care & Hospice.