The proposal is the culmination of several months of work by Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and the panel’s top Democrat, Sen. Ron Wyden fromOregon, in addition to Sens. Mark Warner, D-Va., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga.
“Addressing chronic care in the Medicare program with reforms that improve outcomes for patients and save taxpayer dollars is a bipartisan goal, and I am proud that after a year and a half’s worth of work, the Finance Committee Chronic Care Working Group was able to unite around a set of reforms and recommendations to advance the conversation,” Sen. Hatch said in a statement.
The draft bill includes expanding a Medicare pilot program that sends physicians and nurses to patients’ homes for care; increasing flexibility for physician groups that are part of ACOs; and increasing the use of telehealth, according to the report. The reform would also expand programs aimed at combating high drug prices.
The Congressional Budget Office has not yet provided a cost estimate on the proposal, but the draft calls for savings from the initiatives outlined to offset any spending.
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