Contact: Ernie Blazar 202/224-7627
Wednesday, February 14, 2001

WASHINGTON - Senators Kit Bond and Susan Collins today introduced a new bi-partisan bill to strengthen home health care for senior citizens and disabled Americans.

쳌gOur society has an obligation to care for those most in need of help,쳌h said Senator Bond. 쳌gIn the end, we are judged not on what we do for ourselves, but for how we care for those who cannot do for themselves.

The bill has two key goals

쳌 Eliminate the crippling 15-percent cut in home health care payments to patients and agencies scheduled for October 1, 2002. Congress has delayed the 15-percent cut a number of times, but this legislation would eliminate it entirely.

쳌 Permanently extend the 10-percent incentive payments for rural home health patients to ensure they have continued access to good health care services at home.

Winning bipartisan support already, this legislation has attracted a number of co-sponsors, including Senators John Kerry (D-MA), Jack Reed (D-RI), Jim Jeffords (R-VT), Pat Roberts (R-KS), Tim Hutchinson (R-AR), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Patty Murray (D-WA), Jean Carnahan (D-MO), Bob Smith (R-NH), Rick Santorum (R-PA), Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), Mike DeWine (R-OH), Jesse Helms (R-NC), Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), Frank Murkowski (R-AK) and Carl Levin (D-MI).

Home health care is an important part of the Medicare program because it helps home-bound senior citizens and the disabled to get basic nursing and therapy care in their homes. But because of recent draconian budget cuts mandated by the Health Care Financing Administration, almost 900,000 fewer eligible senior citizens and disabled Americans are receiving health care at home. This bill would reverse this trend and restore a level of health care deserved by so many Americans in need.