Grassley Secures Greater Medicare Funding for Iowa Hospitals, Hospice Care

Grassley Secures Greater Medicare Funding for Iowa Hospitals, Hospice Care

? Sen. Chuck Grassley has won a significant victory in his ongoing effort to achieve Medicare funding fairness for Iowa's small-town hospitals. His priorities are reflected in a comprehensive spending bill Congress just approved.

"I'm pleased with this package," Grassley said. "Medicare penalizes Iowa's hospitals for offering quality care at a low cost. Meanwhile, Medicare rewards more expensive hospitals in other parts of the country. This legislation tips the scale back in favor of penny-wise states like Iowa."

Grassley's victory for Iowa's hospitals came via the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill, which Congress approved before adjourning last Friday. Grassley's hospital provisions contained in the bill include:

• correcting Medicare policies that discriminate against small-town hospitals by providing equitable treatment for small-town hospitals caring for a disproportionate share of poor Medicare patients;
• allowing additional hospitals to benefit from the Medicare Dependent Hospital program for less populated areas;
• improving Medicare reimbursement for all sole community hospitals;
• enhancing rural patients' access to emergency and ambulance services;
• and establishing a favorable new payment system for small-town health clinics and community health centers.
  

  In addition, the legislation contains other Grassley priorities:

• $500,000 for the SMART Partners program at Des Moines Area Community College;
• $250,000 to promote science, math and technology education at Iowa State University's College of Education;
• $750,000 for the model early childhood education program at the University of Northern Iowa;
• $250,000 for the National Youth Fitness and Obesity Institute at the University of Northern Iowa;
• $500,000 for the Center for Math and Science Education at the University of Northern Iowa;
• $400,000 for the National Mass Fatalities Training and Response Center at Kirkwood Community College;
• Improved Access to Hospice Care Under Medicare. In September, Grassley held a hearing at which experts praised hospice care for dying patients, but hospice providers described low payment rates via Medicare and heavy bureaucratic burdens. He fought for higher payments and decreased bureaucracy, and the bill provides for both.
• Better Access to Medical Care Through Telehealth Services. The legislation increases Medicare access to telehealth medicine in areas where medical specialists are not readily available. As a result, Medicare patients will now have access to the world's best doctors and medical care regardless of where they live.
• Enhanced Access to Home Health Care. The measure provides for payment enhancements to agencies serving rural Medicare beneficiaries; protects funding for home health services by delaying a scheduled 15 percent cut in payments in addition to other payment increases; provides for a full medical inflation update for home health; and protects home health services in situations where beneficiaries may be using adult day care services.
• Increased Access to Therapy for Nursing Home Patients. The bill maintains access to rehabilitative therapy for nursing home residents by extending the moratorium on therapy caps.

  Grassley advanced his priorities as a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee and chairman of the Special Committee on Aging.