The U.S. House of Representatives plans to weigh in on a possible five-year extension of the CMS waiver for acute hospital care at home.
The House will consider the Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act, which would prolong Medicare hospital-at-home reimbursement by five years, the week of Dec. 1, according to a Nov. 25 Congressional Budget Office notice.
Lawmakers would take action on the bill with normal rules suspended. “Under suspension, floor debate is limited, all floor amendments are prohibited, points of order against the bill are waived, and final passage requires a two-thirds majority vote,” the CBO noted. The agency said the bill would change federal spending by less than $500,000 but was unsure whether it would increase or decrease it.
The CMS waiver recently expired for 43 days during the government shutdown, forcing some hospital-at-home programs to temporarily or permanently close and patients to be discharged from their homes back to brick-and-mortar facilities. Dozens of health systems have called for the five-year extension.
