Current Actions

Protect Access to Home- and Community-Based Services

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) help older adults, people with disabilities, and families remain safe, healthy, and independent at home instead of being forced into institutional care. These services include home health, personal care, rehabilitation, transportation, nutrition, and more.

But access to HCBS is in crisis:

Nationally, more than 700,000 people remain on waiting lists, with average waits of over three years.
In Florida alone, 77,123 individuals are waiting to receive care through the Statewide Medicaid Managed Care (SMMC) Long-Term Care program.
Workforce shortages and chronic underfunding mean providers are turning away referrals because they can’t recruit and retain staff at current Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Florida’s SMMC program uses a priority scoring system to ensure the most fragile patients—those with the highest medical needs—get served first. But with tens of thousands still waiting, even high-priority Floridians are left without the care they desperately need.

Congress must protect and expand access to HCBS by increasing funding, rejecting harmful cuts or restrictions, and supporting the workforce that delivers these services.

Take action by contacting your members of Congress and urge them to strengthen HCBS so that Americans — including tens of thousands of Floridians — can receive care in the setting they prefer: their home.

Tell Congress to Expand Access to Home Health Services Through Occupational Therapy

Wed, 10 Sep 2025 04:00:00 GMT

The Medicare Home Health Accessibility Act (H.R. 2013) would amend the Social Security Act to allow Medicare beneficiaries to qualify for home health services solely based on a need for occupational therapy. Currently, patients must first qualify through the need for skilled nursing, physical therapy, or speech-language pathology services. This bipartisan legislation removes outdated barriers to care and modernizes Medicare policy to reflect the essential role occupational therapy plays in patient recovery, rehabilitation, and independent living.

Why It Matters

Enhances access to home-based care for Medicare beneficiaries.
Reduces unnecessary institutional care.
Recognizes occupational therapy as a standalone qualifying service.
Strengthens the home health workforce and supports aging in place.

Please urge your U.S. Representative to co-sponsor and support H.R. 2013. It’s time to remove outdated restrictions that limit access to critical in-home services.

Protect Home Health Access: Support the Home Health Stabilization Act

Mon, 08 Sep 2025 04:00:00 GMT

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized the Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Home Health Prospective Payment System (PPS) Final Rule, which includes a net payment reduction of approximately $19 per 30-day period — totaling a $220 million (-1.3%) cut to Medicare home health agencies nationwide. While far smaller than the originally proposed 9% reduction, this cut still compounds years of downward pressure on rates and threatens access to clinically necessary care delivered in the home.

The bipartisan Home Health Stabilization Act of 2025 (H.R. 5142), would prevent further erosion by holding 2026 and 2027 payment rates at 2025 levels and requiring CMS to apply a positive update. This stabilization period gives Congress, CMS, and stakeholders time to address flaws in the payment methodology, strengthen program integrity, and protect Medicare beneficiaries’ ability to receive care at home.

Without congressional action, continued rate instability will strain home health providers, limit capacity, and increase reliance on higher-cost institutional settings such as hospitals and nursing homes. Congress must step in now to safeguard access to home-based care for millions of seniors and individuals with disabilities.

TAKE ACTION: Tell your U.S. Representative to co-sponsor the Home Health Stabilization Act (H.R. 5142) and protect access to Medicare home health services.

Expand Access to Telehealth Services: Support the CONNECT for Health Act

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 04:00:00 GMT

Telehealth has become a lifeline for home health, hospice, and palliative care patients, expanding access and keeping people safe at home. But these flexibilities will expire on September 30, 2025, unless Congress acts.

Congress must pass the Creating Opportunities Now for Necessary and Effective Care Technologies (CONNECT) for Health Act (S. 1261/H.R. 4206) to make these telehealth flexibilities permanent. This vital legislation would:

Remove outdated restrictions so patients can receive telehealth at home.
Expand the range of clinicians who can provide telehealth.
Make permanent hospice recertifications and other proven telehealth uses.

Why This Matters

Protects access for seniors and medically fragile patients, especially in rural and underserved areas.
Supports the home health workforce and reduces provider burdens.
Provides long-term stability for agencies investing in care-at-home innovation.

Contact your Senators and Representative today and urge them to cosponsor the CONNECT for Health Act of 2025!

Urge Congress to Cosponsor the Continuous Skilled Nursing Quality Improvement Act of 2025

Tue, 16 Dec 2025 05:00:00 GMT

HCAF is urging members of Congress to cosponsor the Continuous Skilled Nursing Quality Improvement Act of 2025 (S.1920/H.R.6592), bipartisan legislation that modernizes Medicaid policy for continuous skilled (private duty) nursing services. The bill improves oversight, establishes national quality standards, and clarifies regulatory requirements to ensure medically complex individuals — many of them children — can safely receive high-quality care in their homes.

This legislation is critical to strengthening access to care, stabilizing the nursing workforce, and reducing unnecessary administrative barriers that delay or disrupt services. Your voice matters. Please contact your federal elected officials today and urge them to cosponsor this important bipartisan bill.