House Hospice and Home Health Program Integrity Bill Advances; LeadingAge Supports

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Our May 20, 2026 letter for the record in support of HR 8883 underscores the provisions in Rep Van Duyne's bill that align with previously recommended reforms supported by LeadingAge. We also emphasize the need for additional reforms that align with our policy priorities, particularly related to payment reforms and benefit enhancements.

The House Ways and Means Committee on May 21, 2026 marked up eight bills, including the "Protecting Seniors and Stopping Fraudsters Act." (HR 8883).

Introduced on May 19 by Representative Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), HR 8883 was reported positively out of the Committee for consideration by the full House, meaning it passed out of Committee, by a bipartisan vote of 27-16. Three Democrats voted yes.

During the markup, Representative Linda Sanchez (D-CA) who in March introduced the Hospice Care, Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (CARE) Act of 2026 along with Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), made several comments and asked questions underscoring differences between the two bills-particularly focused on the lack of payment reform policies in Representative Van Duyne's bill. Representative Van Duyne emphasized the targeted nature of the policies in her bill and the desire to not increase burdens on legitimate providers.

The bill contains the following provisions:

1. Increased survey frequency for newly enrolled hospices and home health agencies, providers with ownership changes, or providers displaying signs of fraudulent behavior.
2. Revalidation requirements for all agencies in areas under a provisional period of enhanced oversight
3. Enhanced screening requirements for providers deemed at "extreme risk" of fraud (which include providers in areas where there has been aberrant year over year growth or at other factors at the discretion of the Secretary), including fingerprinting administrators and medical directors and requiring proof of liability insurance.
4. A 15% payment penalty for non-submission of quality reporting data (currently, the penalty is 4% for hospice and 2% for home health)
5. Greater accountability for accrediting organizations through standardized survey training requirements.
6. New beneficiary notification requirements to ensure seniors know when they have been enrolled in hospice and understand how to disenroll if fraud or abuse occurs.
7. Annual reporting to Congress on CMS program integrity activities, enforcement actions, fraud trends, and efforts to reduce unnecessary administrative burden on legitimate providers.

LeadingAge on May 20 submitted a letter for the record supporting this bill. Our letter underscores the provisions in Rep Van Duyne's bill that align with previously recommended reforms and that we support. We also emphasize the need for additional reforms that align with our policy priorities, particularly related to payment reforms and benefit enhancements.

LeadingAge is glad to see this bill advance and appreciates the commitment on both sides of the aisle to reforms to ensure high quality hospice and home health care and target enforcement to bad actors.