U.S. Representative Bill Cassidy Joins Patients, Caregivers and Providers to Discuss Value of Quality Home Care Services for Medicare Beneficiaries

– Skilled home health care services keep more than 80,000 Louisianans at home and out of costlier settings –

BATON ROUGE, La., June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Providers of home health care in Louisiana today applauded Representative Bill Cassidy (R-6th) for his support of home health care services, while underscoring the value of clinically excellent and cost efficient home care for Medicare beneficiaries throughout the state and across the nation.

As policymakers in Washington, D.C. continue to debate the national budget and healthcare spending, members of the home health community urged all lawmakers to recognize the vital importance of preserving Medicare funding for skilled home health care services.  Home health advocates and Louisiana-based home health agencies offered the state's services as an example of providing seniors the quality health care they need in a setting they prefer at a fraction of the cost of institutional care settings. In 2008, more than 80,000 Louisianans received care in their homes by a Medicare-certified agency, including skilled nursing, physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy, which are also provided within institutional care settings.

"As our nation continues to look for ways to improve Medicare and make it available for generations to come, skilled home health care here in Louisiana and across the nation makes a valuable contribution to the debate," said Representative Cassidy. "I'm pleased that Louisianans have access to quality, cost efficient care."

Home health care stakeholders welcomed today's conversation as a way to share the community's efforts to strengthen integrity, enhance quality, and reduce costs within the Medicare program. The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare – a group of national providers – is working to propose innovative solutions for Congress that would, among other things, reduce costs within the Medicare program by eliminating fraud and abuse.

"It's the collective responsibility of the entire home care community, and all Americans, to safeguard the important care on which millions of Americans rely," said Val Halamandaris, president of the National Association for Home Care and Hospice.   "Our community is facing possible policy changes from Washington that could potentially impact the vulnerable seniors we care for and the delivery of the skilled health care we provide.  We are committed to working with lawmakers to advance policy solutions that will strengthen the Medicare home health benefit for the community as whole."

More than 200 home health agencies in Louisiana provide specialized in-home care. Nurses and therapists made 2.1 million nursing visits and nearly a million therapy visits in 2009, according to data from the Homecare Association of Louisiana. Research shows that home care providers are able to efficiently manage many chronic diseases -- including Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), diabetes, and heart disease – which might otherwise require a patient to be admitted to a hospital or other in-patient setting.

A June 2011 study by Avalere Health, LLC showed that home health use was associated with a $2.81 billion reduction in post-hospitalization Medicare Part A spending between 2006 and 2009.  Specifically, Medicare Part A spending on home health users in this four year span was $2.81 billion less than it would have been if they had received post-acute care services in other settings – such as care in a skilled nursing facility, long-term acute care hospital or inpatient rehabilitation facility.

"Home health agencies provide indispensable services in managing chronic illnesses and are critical to efforts to reduce hospitalizations," said Warren Hebert, Executive Director of the Homecare Association of Louisiana. "We are successfully demonstrating our ability to educate patients about their health, carefully managing conditions using a team approach, and attempting to prevent costly admissions or re-admissions to other costlier settings."

Representatives from the Homecare Association of Louisiana, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice and the Partnership for Quality Home Health Care – who jointly sponsored the event – presented Congressman Cassidy with an award for his enduring support. Louisiana is home to two of the largest U.S. home care companies – Amedisys, Inc. in Baton Rouge and LHC Group in Lafayette.

SOURCE Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare