WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Pat Roberts today said the current partisan health care reform bill would drastically cut home health care. On the Senate floor today, Senator Roberts spoke in favor of an effort by Senator Mike Johanns (R-NE) to eliminate the devastating cuts in the bill that would put home health care at risk.

“This bill would cut Medicare home health reimbursements by more than $42 billion dollars,” Senator Roberts. “Home care is critical for our seniors and as the co-chair of the Senate Rural Health Care Caucus, I understand that. In my home state of Kansas and other rural areas, many seniors live alone or out in the country miles away from a local hospital or doctor’s office. Home care allows that senior the freedom and independence to stay in their home, and the comfort of knowing someone is there assisting with their health care needs. Most importantly, home care is cost effective care that keeps a senior out of a nursing home or hospital.

“I keep hearing my colleagues on the other side insisting that their half-trillion dollar cut to Medicare ‘won’t affect the benefits guaranteed to seniors.’ While it may be true that this bill does not explicitly cut benefits, my friends cannot deny that their cuts in reimbursements to providers will affect benefits. Because when you cut reimbursements to providers, guess who pays the price? The patients.

“Many of our Kansas home health agencies are already operating at negative margins. Their projected share of these cuts is almost $240 million. Nearly two-thirds of Kansas home health agencies will have negative margins in five years if these cuts are allowed to occur. I want every senior to know, that while maybe it is ‘technically’ accurate for the Democrats to claim that this bill doesn’t cut Medicare benefits, there is no way that you can slash half-a-trillion dollars from payments to providers without affecting their ability to keep their doors open. Especially in rural and small town America.

Roberts concluded, “I will not support a bill that is paid for on the backs of our seniors and devastating to our seniors, states, hospitals, nursing homes, home health providers, and so on. This bill aims to control the government’s spending on health care by rationing your access to that care. I have already voted against this legislation and I will continue to oppose it at every opportunity.”

Senator Roberts is a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions and the Senate Committee on Finance. He is Co-chairman of the Senate Rural Health Caucus.

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