On June 1st, 2020, the National Hispanic Council on Aging—along with dozens of other patient groups—submitted a letter to Administrator Seema Verma with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), urging the administration to take the necessary steps to ensure patients living with serious illnesses and chronic diseases have increased access to healthcare. Given the current public health crisis, our organization believes it is critical that CMS do everything it can to expand access for Medicare Part B beneficiaries to care in home settings. This includes more flexibility for patients to receive in-home infusions and injections of therapies and treatments, at the direction of their physician and health care team.
Furthermore, the NHCOA recognizes the communities we represent are at higher risk of infection. Not only does this virus target vulnerable patient populations living with chronic illnesses as well as older adults but its disproportionality affects minority communities of color. It is therefore paramount that these vulnerable Medicare beneficiaries and their healthcare providers have additional treatment options as well as flexibility in the administration of this treatment that will allow for the continuity of care in the safety of their own homes.
We appreciate the steps CMS has already taken to expand access to care in home settings. However, this letter will serve to demonstrate the urgency for expanded access that older patients are asking for so they can receive critical medical attention during this tenuous time.
The final letter can be found here: bit.ly/3eOZMXa .
We are all in this fight to end the coronavirus pandemic together. This starts by ensuring seniors and patients in minority communities receive the attention and healthcare they desperately need to stay healthy and safe.
