Always There needs Employees' Signature Assistance & Support the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act.

Please help Always There and other Home Health Care Agencies by clicking on this link and support the  Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act Re-Introduced in the House of Representatives. Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants and others are currently prohibited from ordering home care services.  The following legislative bills would allow them to do so.  Please contact your legislators and asked them to support them.    House. Reps. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA) and Greg Walden (R-OR) have re-introduced the Home Health Care Planning. Improvement Act (H.R. 2267) in the U.S. House of Representatives.  H.R. 2267 (S. 227) would allow advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs), nurse practitioners (NPs), clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), certified nurse midwives (CNMs) and physician assistants (PAs) to order home health services under Medicare in accordance with state law. Medicare has recognized the independent practice of APRNs for nearly two decades, and these health care professionals now provide the majority of skilled care to home  law has kept APRNs from signing home health plans of care and from certifying Medicare patients for the home health care benefit. In areas where access to physicians is limited, this prohibition has led to delays in health care delivery, which can lead to increased cost to the Medicare system when patients are unnecessarily left in more expensive institutional settings. Rep. Schwartz has introduced this bill in the last two Congresses. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Kent Conrad (D-ND) introduced the Senate companion bill (S.227) earlier this year. Always There is asking that you as individuals and companies can make a dfference, click the link or copy and paste the following in your browser and hit enter: http://tinyurl.com/5vh672t When the browser window opens, enter your contact information and click review message.  At the bottom of that page click send message. Thank you for your support! Deborah Glassey Always There's Executive Director