Cutting care at home: A looming crisis in Florida

Home health is a lifeline that comforts, extends, and brings dignity to millions of lives in Florida and across the nation. 

For me and for so many others in our field, this work isn’t just a profession; it’s a mission to ensure that patients and families have access to the right care at the right time, in the place they call home. 

As providers and home health advocates, we are here to support in all stages of life with a shared goal of keeping patients comfortable at home. 

We see this through services such as home-based care, which helps people who may be managing a chronic illness or recovering from surgery, and with hospice care, which provides expert pain management, emotional support, and dignity for those facing terminal illness.

I often think of my father, who lives in a rural community and was able to receive physical therapy, occupational therapy, and nursing care at home while managing his autoimmune disease. 

Having these services at home spared my mother countless trips to the nearest city for therapy or, worse, additional nights away from home in a rehab hospital. 

I also remember an elderly woman who received physical therapy and nursing support to help manage her medications, enabling her to remain safe and independent in her own home. 

These are real success stories of home-based care, and there are countless others like them, each one a reminder of how compassionate, community-centered healthcare can preserve dignity, connection, and quality of life. 

Home health isn’t just a preference—it’s a necessity.

It delivers skilled, compassionate support where patients feel safest, while also helping to reduce unnecessary hospital stays and associated costs.

That’s why it is troubling to see the federal government repeatedly propose cuts to an already strained home health system, most recently with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposed rule that would slash funding to home health agencies by over nine percent nationwide in 2026. 

Florida is already feeling the economic strain. 

We’ve seen reduced access to care, home health agency closures, and the deepening of care deserts in recent years, at a time when one in five Floridians needs hospice services. 

Since 2019, over 173,000 patients have lost access to home health across the state of Florida. 

In Representative Vern Buchanan’s district, a staggering 37% of patients referred to home health after hospitalization never received the care promised and certainly were relying on. 

This crisis is not unique to Florida. It’s part of a nationwide post-acute care emergency. 

When home health agencies lose funding and are forced to close their doors, patients are left without care where they live, and the burden shifts to costly hospitals and nursing homes. 

This comes at a great expense to taxpayers, families, and the health system as a whole. Without meaningful investment, we’ll also continue to see workforce shortages that further erode access to care. 

We are facing urgent threats to access, quality, and patient choice. 

We need immediate action to protect and expand access to home-based, post-acute care. 

We know that members of Congress, like Representative Vern Buchanan, understand home health care is a lifeline in the communities they serve, and we are thankful for any support lawmakers can provide in urging CMS to reconsider their proposed cuts and implement legislation that protects access to care at home. 

Without that access, more patients will go without care, hospitalizations and costs will rise, healthcare providers will lose their jobs, and our already burdened home health care system will continue to crumble. 

But when patients can receive care at home, families stay together, communities stay stronger, and our healthcare system works as it should. 

Tarrah Lowry-Torres is the COO of Empath Health in Florida, one of the nation’s largest not-for-profit home-based care organizations. With over a decade of healthcare leadership experience, Tarrah's background includes serving as CEO of Sangre de Cristo Hospice & Palliative Care in Colorado and COO of Trustbridge in Palm Beach and Broward counties.