Government Relations Alert

Call Your Senators and Urge Them to Vote to Amend the Medicare Homebound Rule That Imprisons People with Disabilities in Their Own Homes!

BACKGROUND

The Medicare home health homebound rule imprisons about fifty thousand people with permanent disabilities and life threatening conditions 24/7 at home each day. The law says that to receive skilled home health care paid for by Medicare you must be "confined to home" and only leave it for "short and infrequent" trips to the doctor, adult day care and religious services. Most receive the benefit to get post-acute care after a hospital stay for a short time. Thus, remaining "homebound" is a minor inconvenience for these individuals. But, for those with terminal, progressive and permanent conditions remaining homebound becomes a life sentence no law abiding American should endure.

Moreover, these people who need skilled care to stay alive are being bounced off the benefit whenever they leave home. One woman was cut off the vital benefit after going to her child's funeral. Others are told if they return to work they can keep their Medicare just not the home health care they need to stay alive and work at the same time. David Jayne who has ALS was tossed off for having the temerity for spending time with his kids and going to a football game with his college buddies. Medicare met its David when it messed with Jayne, however. Rather than to roll over and play dead, Jayne has led a two-year fight to amend the homebound rule and that fight is beginning to pay off.

Senate to Vote on Homebound Amendment to Medicare Prescription Drug Bill: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle will bring the Medicare Rx bill to the floor for debate on Monday, July 15th. The major purpose of the bill, of course, is to add a prescription drug benefit that would assist the over 35 million older Americans and nearly 6 million people with disabilities under age 65 and their dependents that are covered by the Medicare program purchase vitally needed medications. Senators. Collins (R-ME) and Kerry (D-MA) also will offer an amendment to it to exempt those who must receive skilled home health care for over a year due to a severe or progressive condition from being thrown off the benefit for "violating" the homebound rule.

HHS, CBO and some in the Administration and Congress say that amending the homebound rule in this manner will cost too much. Critics also charge that it will transform the Medicare home health benefit from one that focuses on short term; post acute needs into one provide long-term care. The reality is that the amendment would produce few, if any, new costs since most beneficiaries who require skilled care for a year or more are already getting it from Medicare or Medicaid or sometimes both. It would also simply enable people like David Jayne to receive home health even though they can leave their home in a wheelchair.

TAKE ACTION NOW

Call your Senators through the Capitol Hill switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and the White House at (202) 465-1414 to ask them to support the David Jayne Amendment.

• If one of your Senators (or both of them) is a Democrat, call his/her legislative assistant and ask that the Senator urge Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) to include the David Jayne Amendment into the Senate Medicare reform bill.
• If one of your Senators (or both of them) is a Republican, call his/her legislative assistant and ask that the Senator urge Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS) to include the David Jayne Amendment into the Senate Medicare reform bill.

If you do make a call let us know at legislative@naswdc.org.