Home care association responds to Supreme Court’s decision on Affordable Care Act

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. The following is the National Association for Home Care & Hospice’s (NAHC) official statement, from President Val J. Halamandaris:

“NAHC has long supported reforms that increase access to health care for all in the United States and supports health delivery reforms and the expansion of Medicaid eligibility. The ACA rightly shifts the focus of care from inpatient services and institutional care to the community setting, which home health agencies and hospices have effectively provided for decades. NAHC believes that the Affordable Care Act can and should be improved.  Accordingly, NAHC will continue to work with both Democrats and Republicans to improve the legislation. NAHC will ask that its implementation date be delayed for two years so that states have the time to prepare for implementation including the creation of exchanges. This delay will also save approximately $200 billion, which can be applied to deficit reduction, extending the SGR "doc fix" and avoiding the need for any further cuts to Medicare. NAHC will continue to argue that home health providers have been cut disproportionately and will oppose the imposition of copayments or addition cuts. NAHC believes that a good case can be made to expand the scope of Medicare home health services to reduce hospitalization costs and improve services for the 5 percent of Americans who are responsible for 50 percent of total U.S. health care costs.”

About NAHC

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) is a nonprofit organization that represents the nation’s 33,000 home care and hospice organizations. NAHC also advocates for the more than two million nurses, therapists, aides and other caregivers employed by such organizations to provide in-home services to some 12 million Americans each year who are infirm, chronically ill, and disabled. Along with its advocacy, NAHC provides information to help its members provide the highest quality of care and is committed to excellence in every respect. To learn more about NAHC, visit www.nahc.org.