For Reducing the Paperwork Burden: HCAC Executive Director Ellen Caruso (left) reads a letter from the Colorado State Legislative Health Care Task Force urging Congressional leaders to take steps to curb excess paperwork. Senator Wayne Allard offered amendments to the Medicare Prescription Drug Bill to suspend the collection of Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) data for non-Medicare and non-Medicaid home health clients. 

The letter stated in part: "The requirement by CMS for home health agencies to collect this data on patients paying out of pocket and through their private health insurance plans creates needless cost, administrative bureaucracy and unjustifiable paperwork burdens. Ultimately, these costs are absorbed by individual patients, Medicare and non-Medicare payors of service. There is no legitimate reason to continue to invade the privacy and waste precious time and resources to collect this unused data on non-Medicare and non-Medicaid patients."

Shown with Caruso and Senator Allard are Martha de Ulibarri, Visiting Nurse Corp. of Colorado, Denver and  Carol Gaylord, Argus of Colorado Home Health, Denver.