[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 96 (Monday, June 25, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                  OREGON HOME HEALTH CARE AND MEDICARE

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. GREG WALDEN

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, June 25, 2012

  Mr. WALDEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise to address the House about an issue 
of particular importance to seniors and health care patients in 
Oregon's 70,000 square-mile Second District: access to home health 
care. Some counties in my largely rural district are without a single 
hospital or physician, meaning finding care can be difficult. 
Fortunately, however, each of the 20 counties in the district does have 
skilled, dedicated home health providers willing to care for those in 
need.
  Ninety-six percent of all Medicare spending goes toward patients with 
more than one chronic disease, and sixty-six percent of the program's 
funds are used for those with five or more chronic conditions. With ten 
thousand new Medicare beneficiaries added every day, we must work to 
ensure the program's long-term sustainability.
  Fortunately for Medicare, home health care providers go above and 
beyond to deliver high-quality, clinically effective, efficient care, 
and many medical treatments that were once offered in hospital or 
nursing home settings are now being safely and more cost-efficiently 
provided in patients' homes. Further, the home health and hospice 
industry helps fuel the economy with nearly 1.5 million jobs nation-
wide.
  I have seen first-hand the compassionate and highly skilled care home 
health nurses provide to patients. My wife Mylene and I have seen it on 
a personal level with our own families, and talked to numerous 
Oregonians who are grateful for the opportunity to recover in their own 
home with their spouse and loved ones by their side.
  In addition to being good for patients, home health is also good for 
federal taxpayers. When seniors choose home health, they stay in their 
own beds, pay their own utilities, do their own laundry, and provide 
for their own meals. This is also often supplemented by family members 
who help keep them safe and well in the place they most want to be--
their home. When Medicare covers the costs of room and board and 24 
hour care in more expensive institutional settings, taxpayers spend 
thousands of dollars they would otherwise save in home health settings.
  Unfortunately, however, for the majority of compassionate, skilled 
home health providers truly dedicated to the patients they serve, a 
narrow sliver of operators are tarnishing their good work. MedPAC has 
found that a small number of bad actors in just 25 counties nation wide 
are disproportionately taking advantage of Medicare beneficiaries and 
taxpayers.
  According to MedPAC's figures, the total number of home health 
providers in these top 25 highest spending counties rose from 290 in 
2005 to 775 in 2009, an increase of over 167 percent. During this time, 
Medicare payments to these providers went from $592 million to $1.6 
billion, a 163 percent increase in taxpayer spending.
  In Oregon during that same time period, the total number of 
providers, as well as overall Medicare reimbursement, actually 
decreased. These figures confirm what many of us in Oregon have been 
saying for years: when it comes to waste, fraud, and abuse in the 
health care system, Oregon providers as a whole are not the problem.
  So while no State is 100 percent without fault, and while every 
provider should make it their goal to act only in the best interest of 
their patients, these figures have shown us the main source of abuse. 
Therefore, any future home health proposal should target these higher 
spending counties rather than indiscriminately harming the good players 
in the industry. Isolating and rooting out fraud simply makes sense for 
providers, patients, and taxpayers.
  Mr. Speaker, while we can always do more to ensure access to health 
care services in rural areas like Oregon's Second District, I take 
comfort in knowing that there are many home health providers willing to 
serve seniors in Oregon and elsewhere. Because of these dedicated 
providers, patients receive the care they need in the comfort of their 
homes, with their families and loved ones at their side.

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