Joint letter in support of H.R. 4006, the bipartisan Community-Based Independence for Seniors Act of 2017

NCHC Writer
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This letter was originally organized and sent by SCAN Health Plan. The PDF version, which includes the list of sign-on organizations, can be found here.

Chairmen Brady and Walden, and Ranking Members Levin and Pallone:

The Coalition to Promote Independence in Medicare urges you to include H.R. 4006, the “Community Based Independence for Seniors Act of 2017,” in future legislation that addresses Medicare reform.

H.R 4006, sponsored by Reps. Linda Sanchez, Pat Meehan, Leonard Lance and Kurt Schrader, would create a Community-Based Institutional Special Needs Plan (CBI-SNP) Demonstration to help frail, low income Medicare beneficiaries remain in their homes and avoid institutionalization, potentially saving Medicare and Medicaid millions of dollars.

The legislation, which gathered 36 co-sponsors in the last Congress, targets Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) to Medicare beneficiaries with incomes at or below 150 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL). To be eligible, beneficiaries must have two or more activities of daily living limitations (e.g., inability to bathe, feed, or dress themselves).

The additional help this legislation would provide would enable these beneficiaries to remain in their homes, where studies show they want to remain. It would help them avoid institutionalization, where they could risk spending down their dwindling assets and becoming dependent on Medicaid.

In doing so, the CBI-SNP demonstration would:

  • Reduce Medicaid long-term care costs;
  • Reduce Medicare acute care costs; and
  • Reduce personal long-term care costs for beneficiaries.

The CBI-SNP demonstration will make life better for frail seniors and their families. It will also provide policymakers with evidence to support an alternative payment methodology that could re-shape the financing of long term care.

We thank you for your efforts and urge you to include the CBI-SNP demonstration provision as you continue to work towards bipartisan Medicare reform.