Brief⁽¹⁾

H.C.R. 5015 expresses a request of the Kansas Legislature to the Congress to rescind the provisions of the 1997 Balanced Budget Act that require an interim payment system for the reimbursement of services provided by home health agencies to Medicare beneficiaries until the Health Care Financing Administration develops and adopts a prospective reimbursement system.

Background

H.C.R. 5015 was drafted by and introduced at the request of the Health Care Reform Legislative Oversight Committee. The Committee, at the request of the Legislative Coordinating Council, added study of Medicare reimbursement for home health agencies to its 1998 interim agenda. The Committee concluded after hearing a number of conferees that the interim payment system adopted by the Health Care Financing Administration has had and is having a serious detrimental effect on the ability of Kansas licensed home health agencies to continue to serve Medicare patients or even to continue in existence.

The House Committee heard testimony from a representative of the Kansas Home Care Association as to the results of the interim payment system on the provision of home health services in Kansas.

1. *Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at http://www.ink.org/public/legislative/bill_search.html.