The AAMC-supported Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act (H.R. 4313/S. 2237) was introduced on July 10 in the House by Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), Lloyd Smucker (R-Pa.), and Dwight Evans (D-Pa.), with companion legislation introduced in the Senate by Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.). The legislation would extend the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) program for an additional five years, through 2030. The bill also calls for a formal evaluation by the Department of Health and Human Services comparing home-based and traditional inpatient care on key metrics, including quality, patient satisfaction, and readmission rates. Based on the findings, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would issue formal health and safety standards to ensure program integrity moving forward.
Originally established under a waiver in 2020, AHCaH enables providers to care for certain patients, who would have otherwise been admitted to the hospital, in their home. CMS data show the model can lead to faster recovery times, lower mortality rates, and fewer hospital-acquired infections. The AAMC supports the bill as a vital step to help ensure continuity for AAMC-member institutions that have made significant investments in their AHCaH programs, as well as for those that have not yet established programs due to uncertainty surrounding extension of the program. Without congressional action by Sept. 30, the program will expire and cease to continue.