Homecare Industry Mourns Loss of Congressional Champion

NAPPANEE, In. (August 5, 2022)—Representative Jackie Walorski, a champion of homecare industry causes, was killed in a car accident in her district on Wednesday at the age of 58. She was a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 2013 and represented Indiana’s Second District. She also served for six years at the state level. 

Walorski served on the House Ways and Means Committee and was the ranking member on the Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support. In this role, Walorski sponsored or supported many measures for home health, hospice and home medical equipment, including a 2019 bill to require health savings accounts to cover homecare, efforts to expand health care options for veterans to include in-home care and long-term efforts to repeal the medical device tax. She was also a key sponsor of the Beneficiary Enrollment Notification and Eligibility Simplification (BENES) Act, which simplifies the Medicare enrollment process and passed as part of the 2020 Consolidated Appropriations Act. 

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) said that Walorski represented the highest ideals of public service and expressed thanks for “her steadfast and determined support for care in the home.” 

“Congresswoman Walorski’s life was devoted to public service, and she was admired by all who knew her. We mourn the passing of a dedicated public servant to the people of Indiana and the United States,” said NAHC President William A. Dombi in a statement.

According to the Goshen News, the accident occurred sometime after noon on Aug. 4. Two aides traveling with Rep. Walorski, Emma Thompson and Zachery Potts, and the other driver, Edith Shumucker, also died in the accident.