Legislation & Regulation

WASHINGTON—The House Committee on Energy and Commerce plans to discuss several homecare-related bills, including those related to home medical equipment payment relief, home infusion expansion and ultralight wheelchairs, during a hearing focused on expanding access to care for seniors.

WASHINGTON—Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat on the Senate Aging Committee, introduced new legislation to halt a pilot program that would allow private insurance companies and artificial intelligence (AI) tools to delay and deny care to seniors enrolled in traditional Medicare across six states. 

WASHINGTON—The Medical Foods and Formulas Access Act (HR 5684) was introduced in the House by Representative Jim McGovern (D-MA).

WASHINGTON—The United States House of Representatives passed the Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act, which extends the  Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) program through 2030. 

The benefits of the program include:

Along with the occasional aches and pains, growing older can bring surprise setbacks and serious diseases. Longtime relationships with doctors people trust often make even bad news more tolerable. Losing that support — especially during a health crisis — can be terrifying. That’s why little-known federal requirements are supposed to protect people with privately run Medicare Advantage coverage when contract disputes lead their health care providers and insurers to part ways.

WASHINGTON—The Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractors (DME MACs) have published a final local coverage determination (LCD) for urological supplies that

WASHINGTON—AdvaMed, a trade association representing medical technology companies, praised a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Mehmet Oz urging the agency not to finalize a proposal the lawmakers warned could reduce and complicate patient access to continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and durable insulin pumps.

WASHINGTON—The Endocrine Society has penned a joint letter to CGS and the durable medical equipment Medicare administrative contractors (DME MACs) requesting an urgent increase in beneficiary access to medically necessary therapeutic shoes for people with diabetes.

WASHINGTON—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) officially approved five durable medical equipment, prosthetics and orthotics supplies (DMEPOS)-related audit projects under the new Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC), Cotiviti GOV Services, LLC, marking the contractor’s first time overseeing Medicare DMEPOS RAC reviews. 

The new projects include:

WASHINGTON—AAHomecare has issued a statement regarding the United States Department of Commerce investigation of potential national security impacts of importing some medical devices and consumables, including durable medical equipment (DME) and personal protective equipment.  

WASHINGTON—Waivers that provided key telehealth flexibilities expired Sept. 30 as the U.S. Congress hit an impasse over budget bills and triggered a government shutdown. 

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Commerce is investigating potential national security impacts of importing some medical devices and consumables, including durable medical equipment and personal protective equipment.  

WASHINGTON—Easterseals President and CEO Kendra Davenport spoke with Bloomberg about the severe consequences of the Department of Labor’s abrupt pause in funding for the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP), the only federal workforce program dedicated to helping low-income Americans age 55 and older find jobs.

In the days following passage of President Donald Trump’s spending cuts and tax breaks bill, homecare advocates and others in health care have spoken out against it, saying it could threaten patients and access to care. 

The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) said in a released statement it is “deeply troubled” by the passing of the legislation. 

WASHINGTON—New legislation (S 2066) introduced in the House and Senate would create a pilot program for testing the use of a predictive risk-scoring algorithm to provide oversight of payments for durable medical equipment (DME) and clinical diagnostic laboratory tests under the Medicare program. 

WASHINGTON—A newly introduced bill seeks to modernize Medicaid's approach to private duty nursing in order to improve the quality and accessibility of skilled nursing care. The Continuous Skilled Nursing Quality Improvement Act of 2025 (S 1920) was introduced by Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH). 

WASHINGTON—In its recently released budget documents, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has indicated that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is likely to start the next round of competitive bidding. 

NEW YORK—According to AAHomecare, the New York Senate passed long-sought Medicaid rate floor legislation, S 1616, on a unanimous vote. The State Assembly affirmed a companion bill (A2520) earlier in the week, also by a unanimous tally.

FRISCO, Texas—Addus HomeCare Corporation, a provider of homecare services, praised recent state legislature budget approvals for in-home care rate increases in the States of

WASHINGTON—Senators John Barrasso (R-WY) and Chris Coons (D-DE) introduced the Expanding Seniors Access to Mental Health Services Act (S 1797), a bipartisan bill that would make mental health services provided by clinical social workers more available to Medicare beneficiaries.