SAVE Medicare Home Health Act of 2014
Latest action. Referred to the subcommitteeA smaller panel inside a standing committee with jurisdiction over a slice of its subject matter. Most hearings and the first markup usually happen here.Read the full definition (opens a new tab) on Health.
Securing Access Via Excellence for Medicare Home Health Act of 2014 or the SAVE Medicare Home Health Act of 2014 - Amends title XVIII (Medicare) of the Social Security Act, with respect to the prospective payment system (PPS) for home health services, to repeal the rebasing reduction adjustment for 2014 and subsequent years required by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).
Establishes a calendar year 2014 payment adjustment under such PPS.
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct a detailed analysis of the rebasing reduction in Medicare payments for home health services promulgated under the rule for home health prospective payment system rate update for calendar year 2014.
Directs the Secretary to specify a home health all-cause all-condition hospital unplanned readmission measure for readmissions (for any cause) to a hospital for an individual entitled to benefits under Medicare part A (Hospital Insurance) (or enrolled under Medicare part B [Supplementary Medicare Insurance]) and who is receiving post-hospital home health services. Requires this measure to be risk adjusted for potentially preventable readmission to a hospital for such an individual.
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish: (1) a Medicare home health agency value-based purchasing program (HHA VBP) under which value-based incentive payments are made in a year to home health agencies, and (2) performance standards for application of the unplanned readmission measure.
Directs the Secretary to develop by regulation a methodology for assessing the total performance of each home health agency based on these performance standards.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) withhold from the payment rates made for each year for home health services the amount necessary so that enactment of this Act is estimated not to result in any net change in payments made for Medicare services, and (2) provide for a distribution of a portion of those withheld amounts for performance payments to home health agencies.
Directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) to review the progress of the HHA VBP and make appropriate recommendations on any improvements that should be made to the program.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on July 15, 2014. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on July 18, 2014: Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 113th Congress (2013-14), 296 of the 9,091 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.3 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
GREG WALDEN (R-OR) introduced it on July 15, 2014, and 40 members have since signed on as cosponsors.
They are 40 Republicans.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on July 15, 2014, 4440 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4437 days ago, on July 18, 2014.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 113th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2015 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers