September 3, 2025
The Honorable John Thune
Senate Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Chuck Schumer
Senate Minority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Mike Johnson
Speaker of the House
United States Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Hakeem Jeffries
Minority Leader
United States Capitol
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Senate Majority Leader Thune, Minority Leader Schumer, Speaker Johnson, and House Minority Leader Jeffries:
On behalf of the signatories below, we strongly urge you to secure the long-term future of the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCaH) waiver program, a critical initiative for Medicare beneficiaries, by including the full 5-year extension in the September government funding package.
The bipartisan, bicameral Hospital Inpatient Services Modernization Act (S. 2237/H.R. 4313) offers the necessary length of time to give health systems the stability and confidence they need to invest in and scale hospital-at-home programs. Now is the time to act decisively to protect and expand access to this transformative model of care.
The AHCaH program is a continuation of standing, bipartisan policy over the last five years and will not lead to new costs. This innovative model is already proving to improve outcomes, lower costs, and meet patients where they are. Additionally, it contributes to patient choice by giving patients the option to receive care on their own terms. The AHCaH program also has the rare combination of lower spending, shorter lengths of stay, high patient and caregiver satisfaction, and high quality. It deploys innovative technology and a workforce eager to treat patients where they live.
Americans want home to be the center of their health. Federal flexibilities, such as the AHCAH waiver, allowed hospitals to do just that. 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. A five-year extension creates the certainty hospitals need to confidently invest and innovate—turning promising demonstrations into sustainable, scalable care models.
Another extension of the waiver effectively builds the bridge from demonstration to a more permanent model by giving more certainty to those hospitals currently on the sidelines waiting for regulatory clarity. The evidence is mounting, and another extension will continue the progress and expand participation. As mentioned in previous letters:
- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services report to Congress on the program found that patients in AHCAH had lower mortality rates, lower readmissions on many of the DRGs, lower spending post-discharge, and positive patient and provider experiences with the program.
- A study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that the mean cost was lower for hospital-at-home care ($5,081) than for acute hospital care ($7,480). The study reviewed whether treatment in a hospital-at-home model substituted for treatment in an acute care hospital. Not only was treatment efficacious, 69 percent of patients preferred hospital-at-home care. Patients treated in the hospital-at-home program also had a shorter length of stay.
- A Health Affairs study found achieved savings of 19 percent over costs for patients receiving care from hospital at home programs. These savings were from a lower average length-of-stay and use of potentially fewer unnecessary services.
- A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society found that a hospital-at-home program was almost $6,000 lower in costs than for inpatient patients.
Hospital at home is strongly supported by the evidence, the patients, caregivers and providers involved in the program. A long-term extension in September would solidify the evidence base, and allow more seniors to have the option to experience care at home. Please reach out to any of the signatories below with any questions.
Sincerely,
AARP
Advanced Imaging Services
Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed)
AdventHealth
Advocate Health
Alliance for Connected Care
Allina Health
American Association for Homecare
American Association on Health and Disability
American Telemedicine Association
Anderson Medical Services LLC
Association of American Medical Colleges
ATA Action
Atrium Health
Azodha
Baptist Health of Northeast Florida
Baptist Health South Florida
BDSRA Foundation
Beth Israel Lahey Health
Biofourmis
Blessing Health System
Boston Medical Center
BPC Action
Breathe Better Rehab LLC
BrightStar Franchising, LLC
Care New England
Center for Advocacy for the Rights and Interests of Elders (CARIE)
Center for Telehealth, University of Mississippi Medical Center
Center to Advance Palliative Care
Chorus (LyfLynks, Inc.)
ChristianaCare
Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (CTAC)
College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME)
Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals
Connected Home Living
CopilotIQ
Corcoran Consulting Group
Corstrata, Inc.
Current Health
Direct Mobile Imaging LLC & US Mobile Imaging LLC
DispatchHealth
DocGo
Exiges Diagnostics, LLC
Fairview Health Services
Harris Health
Health First, Inc.
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
HealthPartners
Henry Ford at Home
Hicuity Health Inc.
Home Care Association of America
Homestyle Direct
Hope for HIE
Inbound Health
Intermountain Health
K&A Radiologic Technology Services, Inc
KJ Solutions LLC
KMA Service LLC
Lakeland Regional Health
Lakeshore Foundation
Lakewood Health System
Lee Health System, Inc.
Lifepoint Health
Lionmountain Consulting
MaineGeneral Health
Maribel Health
Marshfield Clinic Health System
Mass General Brigham
MedArrive, Inc
Meridian Medical Services, Inc.
Minnesota Hospital Association
MitoAction
Mobile Images Acquisition, LLC.
Mount Sinai Health System
Moving Health Home
National Alliance for Caregiving
Neteera
Network of Jewish Human Service Agencies
Neurobehavioral Systems, Inc.
New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies, Inc.
Nomadxray.com
Northwestern Medicine
Novant Health
Nursing Liaisons Inc.
NYU Langone Health
Origin Healthcare
Orlando Health
PDI HEALTH
Peace of Mind, Inc
Penn state health
PM Healthcare Consulting, LLC
Portable Health Solutions
Precision Wound Care Solutions
Prisma Health
Procle Healthworks
QMX Mobile Health
Quality Medical Imaging of Nevada
Right at Home
Roper St. Francis Healthcare
Rosarium Health
RTLK, Inc. dba Home Instead
RxHomeTest
Saint Francis Health System (Tulsa, OK)
SCP Health
SENA Health
Shields at Home
Society of Hospital Medicine
Spectrum Psychological Services
St. Bernards Healthcare
St. Luke’s Health System
Stanford Health Care
Stanford Medicine Children’s Health
STXBP1 Foundation
SUNY-Upstate University Hospital
Synchronous Mental Health
Tampa General Hospital
telehealth.org
Texas Health Resources
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
tMED – The Massachusetts Telemedicine Coalition
Transformative Healthcare
TridentCare
Trualta
UCHealth
UltraMobile Imaging, Inc.
UMass Memorial Health
University of Chicago Medicine
University of Michigan Health
University of Mississippi Medical Center, Center for Telehealth and Emerging Technologies
University of Rochester Hospital at Home
URAC
Validic
Valley Health System
Valley Regional
Virginia Commonwealth University Health System
Virtua Health
WellLink Health Alliance
WellSky
Yale New Haven Health System