National Association for Home Care & Hospice’s Post

‼️ Support the Dole Act: A Legislative Milestone for Veterans 🇺🇸 The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act, commonly known as the Dole Act, represents a significant step forward in ensuring comprehensive care and support for our Veterans. This bipartisan legislation, recently passed by the House, addresses critical issues faced by Veterans and their families. Key highlights of the Dole Act include: 🔹 ENHANCED HEALTHCARE ACCESS: Ensuring veterans can receive care at home without bureaucratic hurdles. 🔹 SUPPORT FOR CAREGIVERS: Providing essential resources and respite care for those who dedicate their lives to supporting our veterans. Housing Initiatives: Increasing funding for veteran housing programs, including projects on tribal lands. 🔹 MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES: Expanding access to mental health care to address the unique challenges faced by veterans. 🔹 EMPLOYMENT ASSISTANCE: Offering job training and employment support to help veterans transition to civilian life. 🔹 HOUSING INITIATIVES: Increasing funding for veteran housing programs, including projects on tribal lands. This legislation is a testament to our commitment to those who have served our nation. By supporting the Dole Act, we can make a tangible difference in the lives of veterans and their families. 🔗 Contact Your Representative: Your voice matters! Reach out to your representative to express your support for the Dole Act. You can find your representative by visiting the House of Representatives website and entering your ZIP code: https://lnkd.in/gKmc92Pe 👉 Learn more and advocate for the Dole Act today: https://lnkd.in/gHywrdBa 📜 More about H.R. 8371: https://lnkd.in/gaaXHZQv #Veterans #DoleAct #Legislation #SupportOurVeterans #VeteransCare #VeteransHealthcare #SupportOurTroops #VeteranCare #Legislation #WWP #WoundedWarriorProject

13 years in this sector and to date I still can not understand why the impact that Hospices have on our healthcare system is not recognised: - From a patient perspective a pain free death with dignity - From a hospital perspective avoiding patients unnecessarily dying in hospital (or even worse the Emergency Department) as well as supporting hospital discharges - From a community nursing perspective taking the load off the already overstretched community nursing teams and ensuring patients remain at home (where most want to die) - From an ambulance perspective freeing up paramedics on call outs with hospice community support or indeed avoid an admission to hospital through an admission to a bedded unit instead - From an NHS workforce perspective, educating our healthcare colleagues in the specialism which is end of life care - From a financial perspective every admission saved, every conveyance saved, every discharge saved, literally saves the NHS £Millions. Whoever wins the next election................your life is a story and the ending matters.

Next week, Congress will vote on a crucial piece of legislation: **The Senator Elizabeth Dole 21st Century Veterans Healthcare and Benefits Improvement Act (H.R. 8371),** also known as the Dole Act. This transformative bill is designed to improve the Department of Veterans Affairs' ability to deliver essential services, with a strong focus on mental health, long-term care, suicide prevention, educational assistance, and homelessness. Most importantly, it prioritizes the well-being of **Veterans, their caregivers, and their families**—the very people who have sacrificed so much for our nation. The stakes couldn’t be higher. Passing this legislation means making meaningful strides toward ensuring Veterans receive the care and support they deserve. We need your help to ensure this act becomes law. **Contact your representatives today and urge them to vote in favor of the Dole Act.** Your voice can make a difference in the lives of countless Veterans and their families. Let’s come together to advocate for those who have served. Together, we can take a significant step toward improving their quality of life. #SupportOurVeterans #MentalHealthMatters #DoleAct #EndVeteranSuicide #22day #VA #VeteranMentalHealth #WWP

It is officially the 2025 Medicare Annual Election Period (AEP) and we are here to help you evaluate all of your plan options for next year. There are some HUGE changes to both Medicare as a Federal Program AND the local Medicare Advantage plans in your area. You will have until Dec 7th to make any changes for next year but it's never too early to get good information so reach out to us today! Best way to set an appt is to fill out this short form: https://lnkd.in/eZh6Qpw5 #florida #medicare #medicareopenenrollment #aep #love #floridaseniors #medicareadvantage #pasco #hillsborough #pinellas #hernando #healthinsurance #family #seniors #medicarechanges

This just landed in my email inbox from National Alliance for Care at Home. It took me just a few minutes to support, and I'm calling on YOU to lend your support, too 💜 Dear Alliance Members,    All indications are that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is moving forward with the Hospice Special Focus Program (SFP) as planned. As part of this rollout, 50 hospices will be selected for the first SFP cohort. We anticipate these hospices will soon be notified. Following that notification, CMS plans to publish a list of hospices identified as eligible SFP candidates based on its current methodology.    We recognize the concerns this program raises, particularly around the reliance on flawed and incomplete data. Despite repeated advocacy efforts from the Alliance, the entire hospice community, and our congressional champions including Representative Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), the author of the HOSPICE Act which created the SFP, CMS has not addressed these issues. The release of this information may lead to unintended harm for patients and providers.    While this is a critical moment, there is still time for CMS to change course. If it does not, Members of Congress can take action to hold them accountable and make necessary reforms.    To help you stay prepared, the Alliance has compiled the latest information and materials for members, which you can access here: Hospice Special Focus Program Resources.    We encourage you to contact your lawmakers to support a delay of the SFP: Take Action.    Thank you for your ongoing commitment to advocating for fair and effective policies in hospice care. https://lnkd.in/gZ44VPms

As the election looms, you may be wondering what each party’s plans are in terms of healthcare. Here’s a great resource to make comparisons: https://lnkd.in/eAbM7y9S

The Steward Health Care Report: How Corporate Greed Hurt Patients, Health Workers, & Communities [September 2024] https://lnkd.in/gDy-agze Steward Health Care — alongside Cerberus Capital Management and Medical Properties Trust — gutted dozens of hospitals across the United States in order to extract maximum profit. In doing so, Steward became a case study of the extent of harm that corporate greed can have on health care access, quality, and safety. Using data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Lown Institute, reports from health workers, bankruptcy documents, and other public reporting, this report details how that financial destruction translated to dangerous conditions for patients and health workers. Key findings include: • Patients at some Steward-owned hospitals spend hours longer in emergency departments as compared to the national average.  • From 2017 to 2024, several Steward-owned hospitals saw significant increases in the amount of time patients spent in emergency departments.  • Patients at some Steward-owned hospitals left the emergency department without care at rates vastly higher than the national average, and the rates of patients leaving the emergency department without care increased over time.  • Death rates for certain conditions at some Steward-owned hospitals increased as death rates for those same conditions held steady or decreased across the country.  • More than half of Steward-owned hospitals rank in the bottom half of acute care hospitals nationwide for patient outcomes, and many of those hospitals rank in the bottom quartile for hospitals nationwide and in their state.  • Workers report difficulty providing care to patients, sustaining on-the-job injuries, and reduced morale due to degrading facilities, missing equipment, and chronic understaffing. Steward-owned hospitals have been repeatedly cited for creating unsafe conditions for patients.  • Between 2014 to 2024, Steward Health Care closed eight hospitals across four states. At a minimum, this translates to the loss of roughly 1,533 patient beds and 4,431 jobs for health providers, staff, and administrators. The lesson from Steward Health Care is clear: we need permanent guardrails against corporate greed in health care. Otherwise, for profit forces will continue to place their wealth over the public’s health, risking patient lives and worker livelihoods.

** What are your thoughts? Medicare? Promises. ** As we move swiftly towards the election, many promises, ideas, and buzzwords are being shared. What do my insurance folks, seniors, Medicare recipients, and families, think of this latest proposal? #sandwhichgeneration #caregiver #aginginplace #medicare #healthcare #election2024 #insurance4everybody theviewabc kamalaharris Medicare https://lnkd.in/eD2Ef7-Z

Posting an important update on last week's U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling regarding "no out-of-pocket cost" preventive care services under the ACA. Zero dollar coverage stays in place, but the case is remanded back to the Federal judge who threw out these zero dollar coverages in the first place. In remanding the case back to the district court, the 5th Circuit has set a course for much still to come in this dispute; further arguments in the district court, and likely further appeals to both the 5th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. And, not to be overlooked, the outcome of the U.S. Presidential election all will undoubtedly determine the fate of zero dollar preventive health services for millions of Americans. Learn more about this recent decision and its implications. #HealthLaw #ACA #PreventiveServices #ZeroDollarCosts

MedPage Today #12July2024 : #Policy #Experts #Weigh #Healthcare #Elements #of #GOP #Platform "— While #light #on #substance #and #detail, the document includes #clear #signals #for #what's #ahead."