New Episode Alert: Dive into Episode 2 of 'Home on the Go'

SEASON 1 EPISODE 2 - OUT NOW!
In home health, we frequently work and interact with the caregivers of medically complex and fragile patients. These caregivers are often tasked with daily management of medications, appointments, insurance coverage, ADLs and IADLs, and more, all without formal education or support regarding these tasks. Many caregivers have little to no support network, and all of this combined can quickly lead to overwhelm and burnout. The combination of a lack of training and support for caregivers can lead to potentially negative effects and outcomes for both patients and home health organizations. 

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Meet Your APTA Home Health Government Affairs Co-Chairs

Happy Spring from the newly appointed APTA Home Health Government Affairs Co-Chairs, Eva Norman, PT, DPT, CEEAA and Denise Wentzell-Yonkovich, PT, DSc, CEEAA! Here is a short introduction:

Eva Norman has been a member of APTA Home Health since 2004. She is currently serving as the APTA Home Health Federal Affairs Liaison and APTA Home Health Delegate since January 2023. She owns a private practice in MN and FL specializing in wellness, preventative and health promotion services for the aging population called Live your Life. Due to a life altering event when she was 13 years old when a physical therapist saved her life, she has been giving back to the profession she loves through her service. In wanting to make a difference by giving her patients a voice, she became an advocate as a student and has attended her state and Washington DC Capitol Hill Days for over 20 years. Her motto is “Learn-Educate-Advocate, Physical Therapy & Your Patients are Counting on You!”

Denise Wentzell-Yonkovich has been a practicing physical therapist for over 30 years and an APTA member since the beginning. Her experience is in outpatient orthopedics, education, and in the last twelve years, home health. Denise became interested in the “politics” of the profession when she was completing her Doctorate research on Direct Access and the DPT degree. She started following trends and began advocating for the PT profession by writing letters to her representatives and Senators in her state on different topics. Over the last several years, the recent changes to the Medicare payment schedule and reimbursement have spurred Denise to being more involved. She is hoping to learn as much as she can as she is mentored in this role and to be able to be a resource and a voice for the physical therapy profession.

Members, we encourage you to join the APTA Advocacy Network. By joining our grassroots, you can stay connected and engaged on the current issues of the profession.  It is free to participate and easy to join. Simply download APTA Action App,  select Advocacy Network Signup, and join.  Participants will receive special updates and action alerts when we need your voice to be heard. The email will contain information about the current issue or bill that the APTA is seeking support from Congress along with a prepared letter/template for the participant to send automatically to their US Senators and Representatives.  It’s that easy! Our letters have helped pass important legislation over the years so let’s keep the momentum going! Join now and let YOUR voice be heard.

Reach out to us should you have any questions or concerns. Thank you in advance for your advocacy!

Sincerely,

Eva Norman [email protected]
Denise Wentzell-Yonkovich [email protected]
APTA Home Health GAC Co-Chairs

APTA Advocacy Network Newsletter — March 2024 Edition 

Advocacy Marches On 

Spring is in the air. Clocks have sprung forward an hour, March Madness brackets are on the mind, and in Washington, D.C., the cherry blossom peak bloom speculation has begun. 

On Capitol Hill, it has been an intense start to spring as policymakers on both sides of the aisle worked to formulate and pass a bipartisan agreement to keep the government funded and address the Medicare payment cut that went into effect Jan. 1, impacting dozens of providers, including physical therapists. In February, we saw 32 senators come together in a bipartisan effort via a letter to congressional leadership urging more funding for the 2024 fee schedule and saying that such a fix must be included in any spending deal. APTA also advocates made their voices heard in record numbers, demanding that Congress include a fix to the Medicare fee schedule in the spending package deal, and they were successful. 

On March 7, Congress passed a funding package that prevents a government shutdown and provides over $730 million in additional funding (a 1.68% increase to the fee schedule’s conversion factor that impacts payments to all providers) for the 2024 Medicare fee schedule to mitigate cuts. The additional funding provided by Congress will reduce, but not totally eliminate, the entire 3.37% facing a wide range of providers.

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NAHC/HHFMA Medicare Advantage Survey - Your Input Matters!

NAHC | By Bill Dombi

NAHC is embarking on a landmark survey focused on the operational and financial aspects of the relationship between home health agencies (HHAs) and Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.

The survey ties into early MA studies from NAHC that examined the relationships between 2014 and 2020. As such, the 2024 edition provides a crucial opportunity to compare today’s environment with those earlier benchmarks.

In 2024, MA enrollment is at its all-time high, exceeding 50% of Medicare enrollees nationwide, with some localities well in excess of 70%. The impact of MA on HHAs continues to grow each year. The data we seek in this survey is essential to our advocacy efforts on behalf of HHAs and helpful to HHAs in their own business decisions.

Previous NAHC analyses uncovered a significant need for HHAs to subsidize the payment rates of many MA plans to cover the cost of care provided to MA enrollees while also demonstrating higher administrative costs than Traditional Medicare.

We must get significant and widespread participation in the survey to have valid and reliable data. We also encourage you to complete the survey as soon as possible. The data is needed for the current advocacy efforts around MA reform and traditional Medicare PDGM payment rates. You should be able to respond to most of the survey questions with readily available information or estimates.

The same survey in 2020 was completed in an average of 16 minutes.

Thank you in advance for your participation. Once the surveys are collected, we will provide a webinar to review the data outcomes. An in-depth review will also be part of the forthcoming Financial Management Conference in July.

Thank you,

Bill Dombi
President, National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC)

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