House Representatives and Senators Introduce Legislation to Extend Acute Hospital Care at Home

Monday, Congressmen Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) and Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) and Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Tom Carper (D-DE) introduced the Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act to establish a two-year extension of the Acute Hospital Care at Home COVID-19 waiver implemented during the pandemic and require HHS to conduct a thorough review of the program. As background, in November 2020, CMS announced the Acute Hospital Care at Home Waiver, which permitted acute-level care to be delivered to patients in the home. CMS had statutory authority to create this waiver under Section 1135 of the Social Security Act, but the waiver is tied to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) which is predicted to end in the near future. The bill would extend the waiver for two years, as well as study the program, to determine the best way to give patients the flexibility to receive acute-level care in their home going forward.

The Academy will be drafting a letter of support for the bill. Please let us know if you have any questions.