Home Health Leaders Commend House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee for Strengthening Efforts to Eliminate Medicare Fraud

WASHINGTON, March 4, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare – a coalition of leading home health providers dedicated to developing innovative reforms to improve the program integrity, quality, and efficiency of home healthcare for our nation's seniors – today commended the House Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Health for exploring new approaches to reducing waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare system to better protect seniors and preserve funds for generations to come.

"We applaud Chairman Pitts, Congressman Pallone and the Subcommittee for working to strengthen fraud-fighting efforts in the Medicare program," stated Eric Berger, CEO of the Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare. "America's seniors deserve the highest quality, most cost effective, and most secure Medicare program possible – and there is no room in such a program for anyone who would prey on the infirm and vulnerable.  As a result, we wish to thank the Subcommittee for its focus on tough targeted reforms that will strengthen Medicare and protect seniors."

The Partnership has been a long-standing advocate for targeted program integrity solutions to eliminate fraud and abuse from the Medicare program.  For example, the Partnership developed the Skilled Home Health and Integrity Program Savings (SHHIPS) plan, which includes strong measures to prevent the payment of aberrant claims through proven payment safeguards, improved claims review processes, elevated participation standards, and entry limitations to prevent excess growth.

The SHHIPS plan follows the successful precedent set by the 10 percent limit on Medicare outlier claims, which the home health community proposed in 2009 and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented in 2010.  This policy alone has been estimated to be on track to generate a total of $11 billion in taxpayer savings over the next decade, without harming innocent seniors or the ethical providers on whom they depend for skilled home healthcare services.

The Partnership is also a member of Fight Fraud First!, a coalition which advocates for the elimination of waste, fraud and abuse from the Medicare program on behalf of seniors, persons with disabilities, military veterans and family members.

The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare was established to assist government officials in ensuring access to skilled home healthcare services for seniors and disabled Americans. Representing community- and hospital-based home healthcare agencies across the United States, the Partnership is dedicated to developing innovative reforms to improve the quality, efficiency and integrity of home healthcare. To learn more, visit www.homehealth4america.org. To join the home healthcare policy conversation, connect with us on Facebook, Twitter and our blog. 

SOURCE Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare