Rep. Blumenauer tries once more for Medicare benefit expansion into hospital-to-home transition services

House Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore) was joined by Rep. Tom Petri (R-Wis) in re-introducing his bipartisan Medicare Transitional Care Act in the 113^th Congress on Thursday. The bill seeks to create a new benefit that according to Blumenauer’s office “will support and coordinate care for Medicare beneficiaries as they move from the hospital setting to their homes or other care setting and ensure that appropriate follow-up care is provided during this vulnerable period.”

With most legislators seeking to reign in government healthcare spending and not create new benefits, the legislation will likely die in committee just as previous versions of the bill have done. However, bills are often introduced for political purposes other than getting a particular provision passed into law. The Medicare Transitional Care Act, for example, creates a reminder that the types of transition of care services that reduce hospital readmissions and lower overall healthcare costs probably should be available to all Medicare beneficiaries. Through the co-sponsor process, it also offers a place for legislators to indicate their support for policies that increase availability of transition of care services to Medicare beneficiaries. 

“It doesn’t make sense to have a program that only provides part of the care Medicare patients need just to have them become sick again as soon as they leave the hospital,” stated Rep. Petri in a press release.  “Providing greater support for Medicare patients as they transition from the hospital back home would improve their health and quality of life while saving taxpayers’ money.”

The benefit proposed by the bill would support care models that offer improved assessment, planning, medications management, movement between care levels, and coordination of support services such as meals and medical equipment. Some of these types of care models are already being implemented at no additional cost to the government as hospitals make changes to avoid reimbursement penalties for high readmission rates. But there is variability between institutions in the adoption of these types of newer care models and a formal care transition benefit in Medicare would help ensure all beneficiaries have access to such services regardless of where they were hospitalized, the bills backers say.

“As providers seek to improve patient outcomes through more coordinated care, Congress must continue to look for effective policies that address gaps in care for our most vulnerable patients, and improving transitions between care settings is critical to that effort,” noted National Transitions of Care Coalition Executive Director Cheri Lattimer in the press release.

Along with Lattimer’s organization, The Medicare Transitional Care Act is supported by the American Society of Aging, Caregiver Action Network, Case Management Society of America, Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine, Hudson Health Plan, Rush University Medical Center, and Sanofi.