U.S. Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., and U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, D-Pa., have proposed legislation that would expand the list of professionals who can order home health-care services under Medicare so that it includes physician assistants, nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists and certified nurse midwives.

Under current rules, Medicare pays for physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy services and part-time or intermittent skilled nursing care services that are delivered inside a beneficiary’s home only if they have been ordered by a physician.

— From staff reports