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More cuts to Hospice announced: Hospice Community responds with Virtual Lobby Day on July 15

NHPCO calls for hospice community to make its voice heard

ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 13 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The nation's hospice providers are facing proposed cuts of$2.3 billion over a five-year period and $9.8 billion over a ten-year period in the preliminary estimates of the House of Representatives health reform proposal, released last week by the Congressional Budget Office.

These cuts are in addition to the cuts scheduled to go into effect on October 1 as a result of the elimination of the Budget Neutrality Adjustment Factor (BNAF), an issue the hospice community has been fighting to overturn for some time.

This new development makes the need to stop the BNAF cuts even more urgent for hospice providers. On Wednesday, July 15, NHPCO and The Alliance for Care at the End of Life are sponsoring a nationwide Virtual Lobby Day.

All Hospice Advocates are called to join together to protect patient access to compassionate and high-quality end-of-life care.

If the BNAF cuts move forward on October 1, just 80 days from now, the hospice community is potentially facing a 6.4 percent reimbursement cut in federal fiscal year 2010 (October 1, 2009 - September 30, 2010).

"The situation facing the hospice community is clear: we are now facing cuts on top of cuts. When you take these proposed cuts, and place them on top of the BNAF scheduled cuts, it is simply unacceptable," said J. Donald Schumacher, NHPCO president and CEO.

Here's how Virtual Lobby Day will work:

On Wednesday, July 15, all Hospice Advocates registered on NHPCO's Legislative Action Center will receive the Virtual Lobby Day information via email.

The email with include instructions about who to contact, how to contact them, and specific talking points.

Participants will call and write throughout the day on July 15.

People who have not previously registered on NHPCO's Legislative Action Center can sign up now -- it's free and open to any interested individual. Go to www.nhpco.org/advocacy and click the " Legislative Action Center " box.