As the leading voice for home infusion on Capitol Hill and with the Administration, NHIA is fighting to ensure that federal policy supports equitable access to the full range of home infusion therapies.
Current Policy Initiatives
Preserving Patient Access to Home Infusion Act (117th Congress)
In 2016, Congress passed the
21st Century Cures Act, which included reforms to the Medicare Part B DMEPOS program. To ensure home infusion services were not interrupted, Congress added a new Home Infusion Therapy Services benefit to Medicare Part B.
Unfortunately, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has interpreted the home infusion services benefit as one that covers professional services provided in the patient’s home (i.e. nursing) to administer IV or SC medications. Despite a letter from the Congressional sponsors of the home infusion legislation, numerous comments through the rule-making process, and drops in utilization, CMS has not moved from their flawed definition of “home infusion calendar day.”
Letter to HHS from Senate bill sponsors
Letter to HHS from House bill sponsors
NHIA has drafted legislation with the help of our Congressional champions to permanently fix the home infusion therapy services benefit. The legislation (
S.2652;
H.R. 5067) was introduced in August 2021 and will accomplish the following if passed:
- Require CMS to pay home infusion providers for professional services each day the drug is administered.
- Remove the requirement that a skilled professional be present in the home for billing to occur.
- Explicitly acknowledge pharmacy professional services.
- Keep all drugs in the benefit that were part of the transitional program (i.e. Hizentra)
Status:
- Introduced, pending committee hearings, mark up, and scoring.
- Recruiting co-sponsors
How you can help
- Contact your Senators and Representatives and ask them to co-sponsor H.R. 5067 and S. 2652.
- Write an op-ed for your local paper about how home infusion has supported patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Invite patients to share their stories with NHIA about how home infusion has positively impacted their lives.
Policy Resources
In addition to the work NHIA has done on Medicare Reimbursement, we have been active on issues related to sterile compounding, insanitary conditions, and revisions to USP <797> and <800>. Click here for additional information on these activities.
