Pulse development · 2 cited sources · August 18, 2026
A Medicare Bill Links Home-Care Coverage and Worker Pay
The Medicare At Home Act would define a Part B home-care benefit and a proposed wage floor for home care workers.
Lawmakers have introduced the Medicare At Home Act, a bill that would add a home care benefit to Medicare Part B. U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., introduced companion bills on Aug. 10. The proposed benefit would cover assistance with activities of daily living, including bathing, dressing and eating, and instrumental activities of daily living, including meal preparation and light housekeeping. It would cover home care services up to 20 hours a week. A physician or other authorized practitioner would create and periodically review a plan of care. That plan would have to certify that a beneficiary needs help with at least two activities of daily living, two instrumental activities of daily living, or one activity of daily living and one instrumental activity of daily living. The bill says those services would be separate from Medicare home health services.
Coverage is one term in the proposal. The bill would establish a payment methodology for home care services that reflects a reasonable wage floor for home care workers. The bill would not take effect immediately. It would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to issue regulations within one year of enactment, adjust monthly Medicare Part B premiums to reflect the benefit's additional cost, and start the benefit with the first plan year that starts more than two years after the bill is enacted. Minnesota's nursing-home wage rule is a separate rule for another care setting. The state's Department of Human Services was months late in filing the necessary paperwork with the U.S. Leah Solo, executive director of Minnesota's Nursing Home Workforce Standards Board, said the rule will go into effect in September. The Medicare proposal and Minnesota's nursing-home rule do not create a shared benefit or setting, but both put the terms of paid care into public rules.
Evidence
Each statement shown below is a verified claim this source supports.
- Lawmakers introduced the Medicare At Home Act, which would add a home care benefit to Medicare Part B.
- The bill would establish a payment methodology for home care services that reflects a reasonable wage floor for home care workers.
- U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Mich., and U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., introduced companion bills on Aug. 10.
- The proposed benefit would cover assistance with activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living, including the listed examples.
- The proposed benefit would cover home care services up to 20 hours a week.
- A physician or other authorized practitioner would create and periodically review a plan of care.
- The plan of care would have to certify the beneficiary's specified need for assistance with activities of daily living or instrumental activities of daily living.
- The proposed services would be separate from Medicare home health services.
- The proposed home care benefit would not take effect immediately.
- The bill would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to issue regulations within one year of enactment.
- The bill would direct the Department of Health and Human Services to adjust monthly Medicare Part B premiums to reflect the benefit's additional cost.
- The benefit would apply beginning with the first plan year that starts more than two years after the bill is enacted.
- For certified nursing assistants, the minimum wage is $22.50 per hour, jumping to $24 an hour in 2027.
- Minnesota's Department of Human Services was months late in filing the necessary paperwork with the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
- Minnesota's nursing-home wage rule will go into effect in September.
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