A bipartisan team of senators introduced legislation Thursday that would provide cutting-edge technologies and treatment options for in-home wound care. The Better Wound Care at Home Act aims to update what the bill’s co-sponsors call “outdated Medicare payment methods and billing rules.”
“It’s important that seniors receiving care at home have access to the most up-to-date and innovative treatments,” said Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), who co-sponsored the legislation with Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO). “This legislation will ensure just that by modernizing CMS payment policies to make disposable wound treatments as readily accessible as non-disposable treatments.”
In 2015, Burr and Bennet also co-sponsored the Patient Access to Disposable Medical Technology Act, which updated Medicare coverage of durable medical equipment to include disposable technologies for in-home care. The act became law as part of a larger funding bill.
The Better Wound Care at Home Act would put disposable medical equipment to treat wound care on a level playing field with non-disposable devices. The bill would also standardize the payment methodology nationally by applying a neutral wage index for payments made to home health agencies (HHSs), clarify payments to HHAs and reduce administrative burdens by streamlining billing forms.
