Washington, D.C.—Last November, the Obama Administration announced it would cut home health care payments by 14 percent over four years—the maximum amount allowed under the law. As a result, more than 40 percent of home health care agencies could be forced out of business. These cuts would disproportionately impact rural areas like West Virginia where access to home health care is a lifeline to many seniors.

In reaction to the Obama Administration’s actions, Rep. David B. McKinley, P.E. (R-WV), is co-sponsoring a bill that restores payment levels to home health care agencies and cuts waste.

“We need to stop these harsh cuts to our seniors,” said Rep. McKinley. “Obamacare’s cuts to home health will hurt West Virginia seniors, reduce access to care, and cause nurses to lose their jobs. Our seniors have come to depend on quality home health care to allow them to recover at home. Like people in rural areas across the country, West Virginians face many challenges in accessing quality and affordable health care and the President’s reduction in funding would make it harder.”

“Home health care provides comfort, familiarity and normalcy for the patients and their families,” added McKinley. “This is a common-sense bill that will give West Virginia seniors certainty that they will be able to continue to receive the care on which they depend.”