Senate Bill Would Extend Hospital at Home Program Through 2029

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senators Tim Scott and Tom Carper have proposed legislation that would extend a pandemic-era waiver for hospital at home programs for five years. 

The Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act of 2024 would keep the Centers for Medicaid & Medicaid Services Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver active through 2029. The program, which is currently active in 37 states nationwide, is set to expire on December 31, 2024.

The sponsors said the extension would provide much-needed stability to Medicare patients nationwide by enabling providers to continue delivering hospital-level care to Medicare beneficiaries in the comfort of their own homes. 

“The Acute Hospital Care at Home program has revolutionized health care for so many Americans by improving care while cutting down on the health risks associated with hospital stays,” Scott said in a news release. 

“Since Hospital at Home was implemented just a few years ago, we have seen this program deliver positive patient outcomes and reduce costs nationwide. I recently had the opportunity to celebrate Delaware’s own ChristianaCare as they admitted their thousandth patient through the program,” Carper added.

The bill is also cosponsored by Senators Thom Tillis and Tina Smith.

Scott and Carper previously introduced and passed legislation that extended the hospital home waiver program two years beyond the duration of the COVID-19 public health emergency. That bill also required that CMS issue regulations establishing health and safety requirements for hospital at home programs and that the Department of Health and Human Services submit a report to Congress on the efficacy of the waiver program.

Read the text of the bill here.