Is Hospital Care at Home Here to Stay?

It has been almost two years since the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) first issued blanket waivers of certain hospital conditions of participation allowing healthcare systems and hospitals to provide hospital services in locations beyond their existing walls during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE). At the end of 2020, CMS also began accepting waiver requests to waive 42 C.F.R §§ 482.23(b), (b)(1), which requires nursing services to be provided on a hospital’s premises 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and the immediate availability of a registered nurse for care of any patient – thereby, permitting hospitals to implement Acute Hospital Care at Home programs during the PHE.

On March 10, 2022, Senators Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Tim Scott (R-S.C.) introduced the bipartisan legislation, “Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act” (S.3792) (the Act) that would extend CMS’ Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver flexibilities for an additional two years after the PHE expires.  Representatives Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Brad Wenstrup, DPM (R-Ohio) introduced the companion legislation in the House (H.R. 7053).