NHIA Applauds HHS’s Support for Home Infusion Preservation Bill

Alexandria, VA—The National Home Infusion Association (NHIA) praised Secretary Robert Kennedy for his support for The Preserving Patient Access to Home Infusion Act in its recent newsletter. 

The Act is a bipartisan, bicameral legislation that will ensure Medicare patients can receive the intravenous (IV) medications they need while at home. Introduced in the House and the Senate, the legislation would create a complete home infusion benefit for Medicare patients with serious viral and fungal infections, heart failure, immune diseases, cancer and other conditions that require the use of an infusion pump.

“It makes no sense, it’s much more expensive for our system,” Kennedy said. “It’s literally billions of dollars a year that are unnecessarily spent by forcing these patients—particularly in rural areas, elderly patients—that could easily use infusions at home and are forced to come into a hospital to use them. And it doesn’t make any sense and it’s part of the commonsense reforms we’re doing here at HHS.”

“NHIA applauds Secretary Kennedy’s recent statement in support of improving access to home infusion services for Medicare beneficiaries,” NHIA said. “We agree with his sentiment that commonsense reforms to Medicare, like home infusion, will save taxpayer dollars while improving access to care, especially for rural and elderly patients. We stand ready to work with the Secretary and Health and Human Services (HHS) to remedy the current lack of coverage for home infusion therapies.

“Thank you to Representative Diana Harshbarger, a long-time champion of the Preserving Patient Access to Home Infusion Act (HR 21782), for broaching the subject during a June 24 hearing of the House Energy & Commerce Committee,” the association continued. “Rep. Harshbarger is one of several bipartisan, bicameral sponsors of NHIA’s legislative proposal that would both improve access to home-based IV therapies and reduce Medicare costs.”

“Home infusion pharmacies have been safely and effectively providing a wide range of IV medications to patients in their homes for over 40 years,” NHIA said. “This proven model of care is critically important for patients living in rural areas, who are disabled or have transportation challenges. Additionally, home infusion has shown to be a cost-effective alternative when compared to other sites of care.”

First launched in 2019, Medicare’s home infusion therapy (HIT) services benefit has failed to achieve its promise of delivering patient access to home infusion. According to CMS data, several U.S. states haven’t registered a single home infusion service visit. The same report found that less than 1,500 Medicare beneficiaries are receiving home infusion services each calendar quarter, and provider participation in the benefit has steadily declined since its implementation.

“Home-based infusion services are a vital component in improving access to life-sustaining IV treatments and enhancing the quality of life for patients and their families, while adding capacity to the health care system,” said NHIA president & CEO Connie Sullivan, BSPharm. “Passage of the Preserving Patient Access to Home Infusion Act will modernize Medicare’s coverage of home infusion, bringing it in line with the commercial sector, and finally achieve Congress’s intent with creating the benefit.”

The Preserving Patient Access to Home Infusion Act provides technical clarifications that will remove the physical presence requirement, ensuring payment regardless of whether a health care professional is present in the patient’s home. The legislation also acknowledges the full scope of professional services and maintains the current reimbursement rate for in-person nursing visits for at least five years. Additionally, NHIA said the legislation would expand the availability of home infusion to additional patients by making IV anti-infectives available under Medicare’s HIT benefit, a key step in aligning Medicare with commercial market best practices. If implemented, this legislation would enhance patient access to home infusion and increase provider participation in the benefit, effectively diverting care to the home that would otherwise be delivered in more expensive institutional settings.