The American Association for Homecare has called on the Obama administration to fix its “Community Living” initiative by changing Medicare policies that make it harder for seniors and people with disabilities to obtain home medical equipment.
“Homecare providers are very frustrated that the administration touts community living as an initiative to keep seniors and people with disabilities living independently in their homes, yet allows the Medicare program to adopt policies that are restricting access to vital home medical equipment,” said AAH President Tyler J. Wilson.
Wilson said providers of power wheelchairs are subjected to excessive audits, “rampant” denials of reimbursement claims, elimination of the first-month purchase option and new guidelines for documenting medical necessity that are applied to claims filed months, or even years, before the standards were implemented.
HomeCare Magazine recently conducted a poll in which more than 30 percent of home medical equipment providers across the country said they don’t expect to remain in business much longer. This could leave Medicare patients with reduced access to power wheelchairs, oxygen therapy and other homecare equipment and services.
“It’s time for the administration to support the aging-at-home concept with more than just words,” Wilson said. “It is imperative that the administration stop restrictive policies and work with the homecare community to ensure that Medicare patients receive the medical equipment that can keep them in their homes. The home is, by far, the most cost-effective setting for post-acute care.”
Last week, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius celebrated the first-year anniversary of the “Year of Community Living” initiative as well as the 11th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision. The Community Living initiative creates collaboration between local, state and federal human services and housing authorities in finding housing opportunities for people with disabilities who are in institutions, but could be living independently in their own homes.
In the Olmstead case, the high court upheld provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and ruled that it was discriminatory to institutionalize a disabled person who, with proper support, could live in the community. Furthermore, the court ruled that institutionalization can severely limit someone’s ability to interact with family and friends, work and make a life for him or herself.
Wilson said homecare providers fully endorse the Olmstead ruling and support the Community Living initiative, but they want the administration to review its policies that are preventing seniors and people with disabilities from living in their homes. These policies, he said, are wasting taxpayer money.