SEPT. 9: It’s the last day—5 p.m. ET—to submit comments to the CMS on its proposed changes to the home health prospective payment system. Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the proposal is the creation of a “patient-driven groupings model,” to take effect Jan. 1, 2020. The model would change the duration for an episode of care from 60 days to 30 days. Payment would be based on a patient’s characteristics instead of the number of therapy visits. Roughly 20% of beneficiaries discharged from the hospital were sent to home health, according to a 2017 analysis of Medicare data by Excel Health.
SEPT. 10: The House Energy & Commerce Committee’s health subcommittee will examine ways to improve maternal health and welfare. “Over 700 women die each year from pregnancy-related causes, and thousands more face severe complications. This is a tragedy that cannot go unaddressed,” Reps. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.)—chairs of the full committee and subcommittee, respectively—said in a hearing announcement.
SEPT. 11: The House Veterans Affairs' health subcommittee holds a hearing on a slew of bills aimed at addressing the health of female veterans. Among other things, the bills would create an Office of Women’s Health at the VA; call on the VA secretary to give Congress an annual report on how women veterans use the VA system; retrofit VA facilities with “fixtures, materials, and other outfitting measures to support” care for women; and “better integrate the medical, housing, mental health, and other benefits provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs with existing community-based domestic violence and sexual assault services.” Roughly 9% of veterans are female, but that number is expected to climb to 17% by 2043.
