The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing a devastating 9% cut—$1 billion nationwide—to Medicare home health care reimbursement next year. This would be the deepest funding reduction the home health care sector has ever faced. CMS’s final decision on the cuts will be announced in late October. If enacted, these cuts would sharply limit access to home health care for millions of Americans.
Why it matters: “If CMS goes through with these latest reductions, many more New Yorkers will be unable to get the care they need,” warns CEO Dan Savitt.
What’s at Stake in New York
- Since 2020, CMS has cut home health Medicare payments by more than 13%.
- Seventeen New York home care agencies have closed in the past six years, including five just this year.
- Use of home care services in New York State has dropped by more than 25%—and in “home health deserts” like the Bronx, it’s down nearly 40% or more.
- If enacted, the latest proposed cuts in Medicare funding will accelerate this loss of access to home care services.
How We Are Responding
- Dan and our Government Affairs team are meeting with members of Congress, including U.S. Representative Ritchie Torres from the Bronx, to explain how the proposed cut impacts their districts and urge them to take action.
- We are joining national advocacy events in Washington, D.C. this September to raise our concerns.
- VNS Health, along with many of our home health frontline team members, submitted official comments to CMS, and our leadership is meeting directly with agency leadership.
