AHA comments on draft bill to extend hospital-at-home program

In a letter to Reps. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, and Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., the American Hospital Association says it supports their efforts to continue the hospital-at-home program, and it would like to work with them to establish a permanent program. The representatives recently released draft legislation to extend the program through 2027. While the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has granted waivers for at least 320 hospitals in 37 states to provide hospital-at-home services to patients, the AHA said other hospitals are interested in offering programs but are hesitant to do so without congressional action indicating the program will last beyond this year. A longer extension of the hospital-at-home program would provide much needed stability for existing programs to continue providing care to their patients. (AHA News article, 4/22/24)