On Thursday, lawmakers introduced a bill that would suspend reductions in Medicare home hygiene reimbursement rates in 2026 and 2027, if passed.
The bill, called the Home Health Stabilization Act of 2025, is designed to stabilize home health payments and ensure access to care that allows patients to age in place and avoid facilities.
Specifically, the bill requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to apply positive payment adjustments to offset negative payments contained in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed home health regulations for 2026. Payment rates for 2026 are based on 2025 rates.
Kevin Heln (R-Okla.) and Terri Sewell (D-Ala.) introduced the bill within a week of the closed window on the proposed home health regulations. The proposed reduction would be a 9% payment reduction on the 30-day base payment rate. Industry leaders call the proposed reduction the issue “the issue of life and death.”
“Reducing home care not only undermines access to this important benefit, but also promotes overall Medicare costs by forcing patients into a more expensive environment of care,” Hern said in a statement. “The bill will allow older adults to receive the care they need at home while protecting taxpayers from unnecessary spending.”
“The imminent reductions in Medicare's home health programs will leave lasting negative effects on patients and their families,” Sewell said in a statement. “It is essential to prevent these reductions from being effective, and that's why we are proud to sponsor the 2025 Home Health Stabilization Act.”
The bill is filled with hope for industry leaders.
Dr. Steve Landers, CEO of the National Alliance for Care At Home, said CMS' CMS proposal provides essential care for millions of Americans with more than $1.135 billion home health cuts. “The Congress cannot be stationary,” he said in a statement.
“The Alliance celebrates the exceptional leadership of representatives of Kevin Heln and Terry Sewell, which introduced the bipartisan law that halted the cuts in home health care in 2026 and 2027 and introduced the Home Health Stabilization Act of 2025, a bipartisan law that would halt home health care and congressional work time to work with CMS and Congress in order to strengthen home health care in the moments when CMS and Congress endure home health care in the moments when they are disabled.
Katie Smith Sloan, CEO and President of Reading, has expressed support for the bill. The currently proposed substantial reductions in Medicare fee payments threaten the access to care for beneficiaries and the viability of all providers, disproportionately affecting nonprofits and mission-driven provider members.
“Representatives from Hern and Sewell are grateful for their recognition of the need for both providers of relief from these looming reductions and the ability of seniors and families to continue access to care,” Smith Sloan said. “This law will reduce payment pressure, relieve payments in the short term and ensure the time needed to work towards a sustainable solution. We sincerely support it and appreciate the leadership of (these representatives) on this important issue.”
