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Committee lays over bill to reimburse home phototherapy for newborn jaundice to reduce admissions and costs
Summary
House File 16 75 would set a sustainable reimbursement methodology for home phototherapy for newborn jaundice to expand access and avoid hospital readmission; health-system witnesses said home treatment is effective and less costly and the bill was laid over as amended.
Representative Purcell explained House File 16 75 and a technical A1 amendment intended to create a sustainable reimbursement methodology for home-based phototherapy (bilirubin lights) used to treat newborn jaundice. Purcell said home phototherapy can treat many infants effectively while reducing hospital stays, supporting breastfeeding and saving substantial costs compared with inpatient care.
Camille Zender of Pediatric Home Service testified that current Medical Assistance daily reimbursement ($76.55 per day) does not cover equipment and service costs, making it difficult for home medical equipment providers to offer phototherapy. Zender described a two-code proposal in the bill: keep the existing federally-matchable equipment rate and add a second episode-based service code to cover additional service costs not matchable under federal rules; combined, the proposal would reimburse about $750 per infant episode compared with an inpatient average cost the sponsor cited at roughly $10,000.
Dr. Gigi Chawla, chief of general pediatrics at Children's Minnesota, said home phototherapy is as effective as inpatient care when families have proper equipment and clinical support and that home care improves bonding and breastfeeding while freeing hospital beds.
The committee adopted the technical A1 amendment and laid the bill over for possible omnibus inclusion.
