Independence at Home Amendment Adopted in Health Care Reform Legislation
In the early morning hours of October 2, the Senate Finance Committee approved the inclusion of an amendment to the Chairman’s Mark, America’s Healthy Future Act, which would aim to create a pilot program providing patients with care options that offer both independence and quality of life. Specifically, Senator Ron Wyden’s (D-OR) amendment would create an Independence at Home Pilot Program to allow Medicare patients with multiple chronic conditions to receive primary care in their homes.
Additionally, the amendment aims to support an interdisciplinary model in which providers – both nurses and physicians – practice collaboratively and to the full extent of their education and licensure on behalf of the patient.
ANA supports this legislation because it provides patients with care options that maintain functional individual independence and afford a better quality of life. It also recognizes the integral role nurses and nurse practitioners play in the delivery of primary care and helps bring the focus of our health care system back where it belongs – on the patient and the community.
ANA has been a strong supporter of the original bill, the Independence at Home Act of 2009 (H.R. 2560./S. 1131).
Rachel Conant
