Home Health Agencies Call For Change To Some Medicare Benefits To Allow More Patients To Get IV Drugs At Home During Pandemic
- April 28, 2020
Bloomberg Law (4/28, Lee, Subscription Publication) reports “home health agencies and lawmakers are calling for a policy change to certain Medicare benefits to let more patients who need lifesaving IV drugs get those medications at home during the coronavirus outbreak.” The piece says “enabling more at-home drug infusions would protect people at high risk for severe complications, such as the elderly or immuno-compromised, and help hospitals around the country clear space for Covid-19 patients.” According to Bloomberg Law, “Drugs covered by Medicare’s outpatient drug network...don’t have a home infusion benefit, ‘which severely limits Medicare beneficiary access to these home infusion drugs,’ nine health care systems told CMS Administrator Seema Verma earlier this month.”