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Two bills recently reintroduced in Congress (S. 254 and H.R. 574) would extend coverage for home infusion services to Medicare beneficiaries—a move long championed by IDSA.
The Medicare Home Infusion Therapy Coverage Act of 2009 was introduced concurrently in the Senate by Sens. Blanche L. Lincoln (D-AR) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-ME) and in the House by Reps. Eliot L. Engel (D-NY) and Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA). The legislation would give Medicare beneficiaries access to the same drug therapies in the home setting that are already enjoyed by most privately insured patients. It also would require high quality standards to ensure the safe and effective provision of home infusion therapies.
IDSA and other advocates believe a home infusion therapy benefit under Medicare would reduce hospital stays and decrease costs. Home infusion therapy is not only more convenient for patients, but it has the added benefit of keeping them out of the hospital, making them less likely to be exposed to hospital-acquired infections.
“Unfortunately, today, we have two standards of care. Patients who have good private health insurance usually have this benefit covered. Patients who have Medicare do not,” said IDSA Immediate Past President Donald M. Poretz, MD, FIDSA, who has provided home infusion therapy to his privately insured patients for many years. “For many of my patients, who are already actively fighting infections, quality care in the home is the best way to go.”
For more information, see http://www.idsociety.org/homeinfusions.htm.
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