Home health care payments under scrutiny — in debt talks and newly released payment rules

One GOP governor has asked his Republican colleagues in Congress to reject debt-ceiling proposals that would cut home health services while recently released rules will further squeeze corporate margins.

The Hill: Republican Governor Breaks With House GOP Over Medicare Cuts
Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) is asking House Republicans to reject cuts to home health care that debt-ceiling negotiators say could save Medicare billions of dollars. Deal, a former chairman of the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, wrote to House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) urging him not to impose co-payments on home health care services covered by Medicare and Medicaid (Pecquet, 7/12).

Reuters: New Rules Won't Put Home Health Care On Life Support
Home health service providers will remain under pressure in the near term as newly introduced rules and reimbursement rate cuts squeeze margins, but the tide should turn in 2012 as the regulatory uncertainty clears up. Companies like Amedisys, Gentiva Health Services, Almost Family and LHC Group have been under intense scrutiny since last year, when various government bodies launched investigations into their billing practices (Jain and Kaushik, 7/12).

Meanwhile, in other Medicare news - 

The Associated Press: Poll: Upbeat Baby Boomers Say They're Not Old Yet
Baby boomers say wrinkles aren't so bad and they're not that worried about dying. Just don't call them "old." The generation that once powered a youth movement isn't ready to symbolize the aging of America, even as its first members are becoming eligible for Medicare. A new poll finds three-quarters of all baby boomers still consider themselves middle-aged or younger, and that includes most of the boomers who are ages 57-65 (Cass and Anderson, 7/13).