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A long list of healthcare stakeholders have signed a letter urging strong support for the Acute Hospital Care at Home waiver program in upcoming government funding decisions.
WHY IT MATTERS
Writing to Congress this week, the organizations – including HIMSS (parent company of Healthcare IT News), AARP, American Telemedicine Association, Minnesota Hospital Association, Intermountain Health, Mass General Brigham, St. Luke’s Health System, UCAHealth and numerous others organized by Moving Health Home – said the evidence speaks for itself.
Patients, caregivers and providers are generally in strong support of at-home acute care, they said, and as such lawmakers should support the proposed five-year hospital-at-home waiver extension because the model has helped improve patient outcomes, lower healthcare costs and bolster older Americans' access to medical care.
Moreover, it "will not lead to new costs" – they said in their letter on Wednesday.
They pointed to a 2022 study of patients at a New York City hospital, admitted to either hospital-at-home or inpatient care between September 2014 and August 2017, which found that one hospital-at-home program reduced costs by nearly $6,000 per patient compared with inpatient care.
Further, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has previously found that patients in hospital-at-home programs have lower mortality rates, readmissions and spending post-discharge, while resulting in positive patient and provider experiences, the 140 organizations pointed out.
These and other studies warrant the continued investment and innovation proposed in the Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act (S. 2237/H.R. 4313), they told the Democratic and Republican leaders.
The collective support of bipartisan lawmakers for the proposed five-year AHCAH extension would give health systems the "stability and confidence" needed to "invest in and scale" their hospital-at-home programs, the organizations explained in the letter.
After five years, the programs would develop into sustainable, scalable care models, they said.
Transitioning the program from a temporary, waiver-based initiative to a long-lasting part of the healthcare system would ultimately lead to more hospitals participating and more seniors having the option to receive care at home.
Calling the extension critical and necessary for regulatory certainty, "Now is the time to act decisively to protect and expand access to this transformative model of care," they urged.
THE LARGER TREND
Most experts advising or working in the healthcare sector have been calling for a long-term approach to telehealth and hospital-at-home that will nurture these promising care models into a sustainable future.
For its potential in the healthcare system of the future, there has been and still is substantial interest in further developing hospital-at-home programs from "a broad swath of providers," according to Jon Freedman, partner, digital and technology transformation, at Chartis.
"As of March 17, 2025, 400 hospitals within 143 health systems across 39 states have been granted AHCAH waivers by CMS," he told Healthcare IT News in March. "This includes more than 20 hospitals being granted waivers in 2025."
Beyond the studies into reduced healthcare costs for both patients and providers, as well as improved experiences and outcomes for patients who receive care at home, home-based healthcare technologies can also support services beyond the sector, according to Travis Rush, CEO of Reperio, an at-home biometric screening technology vendor.
Healthcare leaders should embrace care-at-home tools, he said, and, because they raise individuals' awareness of key health factors, such as elevated blood sugar and high blood pressure, they could also ease the notorious strain on local emergency services.
"These all are controllable risk factors for emergent care," Rush previously told Healthcare IT News.
ON THE RECORD
"Extending the waiver again is not just a policy choice; it's a critical step toward transforming how care is delivered in this country, creating an important option for patients, caregivers, and providers," said healthcare stakeholders in their letter to Congress.
Andrea Fox is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: afox@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.
