AMAC Applauds Introduction of SAVE Medicare Home Healthcare Act

WASHINGTON, July 15, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC) today applauded the introduction of the Securing Access Via Excellence (SAVE) Medicare Home Health Act introduced today in the U.S. House of Representatives, which provides relief to American seniors in need of home healthcare who are at risk due to 14 percent, four-year Medicare cuts implemented on January 1 as part of Obamacare.

Medicare cuts of 14 percent to home health services included in the Obamacare law are estimated to directly impact some of the 3.5 million mature Americans across the country who currently receive Medicare home health services.  Furthermore, Obamacare's Medicare home health cut will force thousands of small businesses to cease operations and close, costing nearly 500,000 home health professionals to lose their jobs.

AMAC further notes these cuts affect the Medicare population's most vulnerable demographic—older, sicker and poorer mature Americans.  Some of these people will now be forced to seek care in an institutional setting, driving up patient and Medicare costs and putting patients at risk for poorer health outcomes.

The majority of people receiving vital home healthcare are also women. The majority of caregivers providing this care are women, and the majority of small business owners employing the caregivers are women, all of who are negatively affected by these cuts.

"We commend Congressmen Greg Walden and Tom Price for their leadership in introducing this bill that will improve patient care while reducing Medicare spending through proven payment reforms," said Dan Weber, Founder and President for AMAC. "Millions of mature Americans have been promised access to Medicare services – a promise the Obamacare home health cuts threaten to break.  The SAVE Medicare Home Health Act puts a stop to these careless Medicare cuts, which is what we believe is best for senior citizens and mature Americans."

The SAVE Medicare Home Health Act achieves the same level of Medicare savings as the Obamacare cuts by creating a program to reduce hospital readmissions through incentives that reward positive patient outcomes, which will allow mature Americans to remain in their homes, where they prefer to stay. 

To learn more, visit www.amac.us/medicarecuts.

SOURCE Association of Mature American Citizens (AMAC)