WASHINGTON — If Congress doesn’t fund the government by the end of the day on Tuesday, patients across the country who have been receiving hospital-level care at home will be placed back in hospitals.

The Acute Hospital Care at Home initiative allows Medicare to waive certain rules so hospitals may provide inpatient hospital care in patients’ homes. The program was launched in response to the pandemic, and like many other Medicare and Medicaid programs, it’s typically renewed in government-funding bills.

The expiration of the hospital-at-home program would immediately disrupt care for patients. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has sent guidance to participating hospitals stating that in the absence of Congressional action, “all inpatients must be discharged or returned to

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