Medicare Independence at Home Medical Practice Demonstration Improvement Act of 2015

Floor Speech

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Mr. BURGESS. I thank the gentleman for yielding. I certainly thank him for having this bill on the floor this afternoon.

I am pleased the House is considering this bipartisan, bicameral legislation. S. 971 is identical to H.R. 2196, the Medicare Independence At Home Medical Practice Demonstration Improvement Act, which I introduced with Mr. Roskam of Illinois and Mr. Thompson of California. The bill extends the Medicare independence at home medical practice demonstration program for an additional 2 years.

S. 971 passed the other Chamber with unanimous consent in April. Let me reiterate that this bill has cleared the Senate, and we have the opportunity to actually advance this bill today and have it become law shortly.

Now, more than ever, it is essential that we consider innovative ways to deliver care that is led by providers. Individuals are aging into Medicare at a rate of 10,000 seniors a day, with many of the most elderly being severely disabled or home limited. It just so happens that one of the best ways to both lower costs and improve care is to return to the simple house calls of the past.

The independence at home program puts patients and their families first by allowing them to stay at home as long as possible and incentivizing their providers to coordinate the care they provide to their patients.

This program targets Medicare beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions who have the highest healthcare costs, require more services from providers, and have a greater need for coordinated care.

Independence at home allows providers to take a more active role in patient care and is proving to decrease unnecessary hospitalizations, unnecessary ER visits, and unnecessary nursing home visits.

Independence at home offers incentives to doctors, specialists, and nurse practitioners to better coordinate care for patients while also cutting costs. This is accomplished by requiring that these groups attain a savings of at least 5 percent of which each qualified patient would otherwise have cost the Medicare system.

I will say it again: The program has and must deliver savings by law. If these providers fail to achieve the mandatory 5 percent savings, they face removal from the program; however, if they are able to accomplish the 5 percent savings threshold, these groups may keep up to 80 percent of the savings.

This program is proving to reduce costs and increase quality by reducing duplicative and unnecessary services, delaying or eliminating the need for nursing home placement, and reducing readmissions to the hospital simply by having a coordinating team of providers.

In addition to saving Medicare money, the patient and their family are able to spend quality time at home, instead of the doctor's office or a hospital. In fact, these programs must improve patient and caregiver satisfaction for the program to continue.

This demonstration program is generating substantial savings and positive outcomes. While the Congressional Budget Office estimated a zero score on June 12, a week later, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released practice results from year one of the program, showing a savings of $25 million the first performance year.

Since CMS has been able to release the data, we are confident that if the Congressional Budget Office were to look at this bill again, they would estimate savings for the program, and we expect higher savings in coming years.

Without this extension, there would be a disruption in care for Medicare beneficiaries and lost savings that are being generated for the Medicare Program.

A vote in favor of S. 971 is a vote in favor of ensuring improved, better managed care for chronically ill Medicare beneficiaries and smarter spending in the Medicare Program.

This bill has gone through regular order. It passed

the Ways and Means Committee. I would like to thank Chairman Ryan and Ranking Member Levin for that. I would also like to thank the Ways and Means Committee staff on both sides of the dais, as well as the Energy and Commerce staffs, for discharging and advancing the bill.

I want to thank Representative Roskam and Representative Thompson and their staffs. I certainly want to thank J.P. Paluskiewicz and Lauren Fleming from my office who have worked to get this bill to the floor.

Mr. Speaker, the program has been a success. Mr. Speaker, the program has no cost. Mr. Speaker, the program is generating savings. If it does not generate savings in the future, it goes away.

This program is generating higher satisfaction for Medicare beneficiaries. If it does not generate beneficiary satisfaction in the future, it goes away.

The Senate has already passed this bill by unanimous consent. Mr. Speaker, there is no reason for us not to do so as well.

I urge everyone to vote in the affirmative.

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