[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 9]
[House]
[Page 12230]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     SAVE MEDICARE HOME HEALTH ACT

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I rise today as a 
cosponsor of the Securing Access Via Excellence, or SAVE, Medicare Home 
Health Act, legislation introduced by my colleagues Mr. Walden and Dr. 
Price to replace the cuts to Medicare home health funding under the 
President's Affordable Care Act with a value-based purchasing program.
  Home health care allows the ill and disabled to access essential care 
services within the home setting and enables our seniors to have more 
control over health care decisions.
  The Affordable Care Act cuts Medicare home health by 14 percent by 
the year 2017. This will have a devastating impact on a large portion 
of the 3.5 million Americans who receive these services, including more 
than 143,000 in Pennsylvania. Of equal concern, these cuts could result 
in the loss of thousands of jobs for caregivers and health 
professionals.
  The SAVE Medicare Home Health Act will achieve the same level of 
savings in the Medicare program. Rather than indiscriminately cut this 
funding, this legislation protects beneficiaries' access to home health 
by making these services more effective and cost efficient.
  I urge my colleagues to cosponsor this legislation. America's seniors 
deserve as much.

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