Posted on Thursday, November 6, 2025
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by Alan Jamison
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2 Comments
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As the federal government shutdown now reaches a record-breaking 37 days, a critical Medicare program is taking a substantial hit due to a lack of funding – jeopardizing care for American seniors and stressing the capacities of hospitals.
In 2020, the Trump administration launched the Acute Hospital Care at Home (AHCAH) initiative under the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The initiative allows medical centers to be reimbursed for remotely monitoring patients at home. This arrangement allows elderly and seriously ill patients to avoid exposure to additional diseases and risk of falls in hospitals, in addition to enhancing patient comfort. The government has “paid more than 330 hospitals” to monitor thousands of patients at home under this program, according to Politico.
But AHCAH is currently not receiving funding because of the government shutdown. The Trump administration originally launched the program in response to hospitals becoming overcrowded during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the Biden administration maintained the program after seeing overwhelmingly positive results.
CMS published a statement explaining that all inpatients at hospitals with AHCAH waivers “must be discharged or returned to the hospital on September 30, 2025,” because of the shutdown. This has forced elderly Medicare recipients to leave the comfort of their homes and travel to hospitals for care.
A representative of the trade group America’s Essential Hospitals explained how forcing patients back into hospitals can be dangerous for their health and encouraged Congress to immediately pass a new funding bill.
“Patients who have chosen to be treated at home are facing limited space at hospitals and increased risk of falls and other negative events when they are moved to an unfamiliar environment,” America’s Essential Hospitals Senior Vice President, Beth Feldpush, said, according to Politico. “This needs to be fixed immediately.”
Politico also reported that the program “has become a lifeline for still-overcrowded hospitals, reducing the number of patients who get stuck in the emergency room — or worse, a hallway — waiting for a room.” The UMass Memorial Medical Center in Massachusetts, for instance, saw the “number of people waiting for a bed creep upward, from around 50 to nearly 70” just during the first week of the shutdown.
Republican Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida is an advocate for the AHCAH program. In July, he introduced legislation in the House that would fund the program for an additional five years. The House Ways and Means Committee passed the bill in October with a potential full House vote coming in the future. Buchanan called out Democrats for endangering the program.
“The Democrat Shutdown is putting seniors’ health at risk,” Buchanan posted on X. “Patients who rely on telehealth and ‘Hospital at Home’ programs that I’m fighting to save are being cut off from care, all because Democrats refuse to pass a clean funding bill.”
As AMAC Newsline previously reported, Senate Democrats have blocked a continuing resolution to reopen the government on 14 occasions. The Senate requires at least 60 votes to pass most legislation, including spending bills. Thus far, only three Senate Democrats have crossed the aisle to vote with Republicans.
House Republicans passed a continuing resolution to keep the government open at current spending levels through November 21 before the shutdown began. Additional votes to reopen the government and fund programs like AHCAH are expected this week.
AMAC Action has notably called on Democrats to reopen the government and has amplified the voices of AMAC members on the issue.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
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