Hospice News

AUGUST 26, 2022

Medicare reimbursement is the lifeblood of hospice providers, and a clear understanding of policies like budget neutrality can help elucidate the payment systems that keep their businesses running. The clearest example of how this works was the 2020 rebasing of payments for the four levels of hospice care.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 20, 2022

SCAN Health Plan is among the Medicare Advantage (MA) payers entering the hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) payment demonstration in 2023. The four-year program — often called the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in — launched Jan. Hospice VBID enters its third year in 2023.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 24, 2023

The company expects the program to bring in roughly 25 new health care workers each month in 2023 at an estimated cost of $40 million, which VITAS hopes to offset with increased volume as staffing gains drive up capacity. “We VITAS launched the initiative in an effort to improve timely access to hospice care.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 15, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently elaborated on its plans to expand public education campaigns designed to help protect hospice beneficiaries from fraudulent actors in the space. Program integrity concerns have heated up in the hospice industry.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 13, 2022

Most hospices are sliding into 2023 between a rock and a hard place, beset by headwinds, labor shortages and questions with no easy answers. Government oversight of hospice providers will tighten during 2023. A coalition of hospice industry organizations recently urged the U.S. Be ready for regulation.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

If you were to write a book about hospice in 2023, what would you call it? To help answer that question, Hospice News asked the CEOs of eight providers how they would title a book about the state of the field today. Also, more care is going to a home-based environment. Is Medicare Advantage going to be the path?

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NHPCO

MARCH 21, 2023

For Immediate Release March 22, 2023 New Research Shows Hospice Care Reduces Medicare Costs Hospice Care Contributed to $3.5 billion in savings for Medicare in 2019, while providing multiple benefits to patients, families, and caregivers. That’s what hospice has done for more than 40 years.

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NHPCO

DECEMBER 13, 2023

NHPCO Facts and Figures is the leading resource for hospice providers and others interested in understanding the work of the community. The 2023 Facts and Figures report continues to see the impact of COVID-19 on patient care and the effect of the COVID-19 waivers to the traditional delivery of hospice care.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 12, 2024

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has voted to recommend a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2025. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). For this year, CMS increased the hospice base rate by 3.1%. set in 2023.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Health plan participation in the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID) will fall in 2024. For calendar year 2024, 13 Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) will participate in the program’s hospice component, providing coverage through 78 health plans in 19 states. million in 2023.

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Hospice News

MARCH 21, 2024

Members of Congress are raising questions about the continued Medicare certification for new hospices in areas rife with fraud. Some of these providers engaged in referral kickback schemes, enrolled patients who were not eligible for hospice and lied to them about being terminally ill. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.)

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Hospice News

JUNE 12, 2024

During 2023 alone, national health care spending rose an estimated 7.5%. This reflects broad increases in the use of health care, which is associated with an estimated 93.1% Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), said during a virtual media briefing. Hospice care saves Medicare roughly $3.5

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 24, 2024

Hospice News spoke with c-suite executives who have recently stepped into their roles to learn more about what led them to the space and their top priorities. Regulatory challenges are among hospice leaders’ most significant concerns. There’s a lot of unknown changes in Medicare. Littlefield told Hospice News.

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NHPCO

DECEMBER 19, 2023

President and the first known President to utilize the Medicare Hospice Benefit. While in office, the Carter administration tested hospice care as a model, which later led to the Medicare Hospice Benefit we know today. At 99, former President Jimmy Carter is the longest living U.S.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 4, 2024

The partnership will allow for better care transitions among chronic and seriously ill patients, according to Compassus CEO Mike Asselta. “We Compassus provides home health, home infusion, palliative and hospice care across 30 states. Compassus’ 7,000 employees care for more than 120,000 patients annually.

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Hospice News

JUNE 14, 2023

The nation’s total health care spend is expected to swell by 5.4% Meanwhile, Medicare hospice spending is expected to more than double by 2032. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary also project that health care expenditures will represent 19.6% These data from the U.S.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 14, 2022

This year brought the return of Medicare sequestration, and pandemic-driven disruption in referral streams are lingering. Generally, fewer clinicians has meant fewer patients have been receiving hospice care, according to industry observers and companies’ own reports. The company saw a 10.6%

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Hospice News

MARCH 4, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will end the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID) as of Dec. Often called the “hospice carve-in,” the program was designed to test coverage of hospice care through Medicare Advantage, in addition to some coverage of palliative care and transitional care.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

These regions have seen a swarm of new hospices emerging and receiving federal funding. In some cases, dozens of new operators were billing Medicare from the same location without a corresponding increase in eligible patient populations. Multiple reports of unethical or illegal practices have surfaced, particularly among new companies.

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Hospice News

MARCH 15, 2024

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended to Congress a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2025. In its annual report to Congress, MedPAC urged policymakers to eliminate hospice base-rate increases for 2025. The 2021 aggregated Medicare hospice margin was 13.3%, according to MedPAC.

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NHPCO

JULY 28, 2023

For Immediate Release July 28, 2023 New Research Shows Hospice Produces Better Outcomes, Lower Medicare Costs (Washington, D.C. billion in Medicare savings in 2019, while also providing multiple benefits to patients, families, and caregivers. billion less than it would have been had they not received hospice care.

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Hospice News

JUNE 5, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced a series of new regulations to combat fraud during the past two years. As of August 2023, CMS personnel had appeared at 7,000 locations, with plans to visit every hospice site in the country, according to a blog post by two CMS officials.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 15, 2024

The cap is designed to prevent overuse of hospice, put controls on Medicare spending and foster greater access to care among patients. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services set the cap at $33,394. For one, if they have a cap liability, they will have to repay that amount to Medicare.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 7, 2022

People, processes and technology are the future of hospice care and health care in general. increase for 2023 when you put all of the data together. What behavioral changes do agencies need to make to prepare for 2023 in light of the final rule? Agencies will need to prepare for OASIS-E before January 1st, 2023.

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Hospice News

MAY 1, 2024

The agency has received numerous complaints about fraudulent activity among hospices in Houston, according to local news. “It’s a little bit more egregious and distasteful than some of the other Medicare frauds we typically deal with,” FBI Supervisory Special Agent Shannon Brady said in the local news report.

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Hospice News

MAY 7, 2024

Beginning in 2021, numerous reports emerged of unethical or illegal practices among hundreds of newly licensed hospices, particularly among new companies popping up in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona. Thus far, California is the only state to take action on the issue, including a moratorium on hospice licensing.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 20, 2024

Early in the program, Oliver, who hosts the show, acknowledged the value of hospice care done right. Lots of dedicated people work with hospices, providing huge relief for dying patients and their families, particularly those who want to remain at home, where, in most cases, hospice care is provided,” Oliver said on the air.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 12, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has outlined the range of services that will be available to patients aligned with the agency’s Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) payment model. Health care providers can expect an influx of patients with dementia-related conditions in the coming years Nearly 6.7

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Hospice News

AUGUST 2, 2024

Last month NAHC and NHPCO inked a deal completing their affiliation after announcing in March 2023 that they were considering some type of collaboration. Recent advocacy efforts have included a shared focus of improving program integrity within the Medicare Hospice Benefit as concerns of fraudulent activity heat up in the industry.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

Gross margin for the hospice segment fell slightly to 42.9% Hospice results were in part impacted by a -4% decrease in patient admissions and a 0.5% Other factors included rising hospice care delivery costs such as investments in clinical staffing and higher compensation and benefit costs, among others, the company reported.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 23, 2024

Compassus, a portfolio company of the private equity firm Towerbrook Capital Partners and the health system Ascension Health, provides home health, home infusion, palliative and hospice care across 30 states. The home-based provider also offers advanced care management and skilled nursing facility-at-home services.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 9, 2024

The organization began as a home health agency and added a hospice segment in 2022, according to Vicki Owens, CEO of Emmaus Catholic Hospice, DBA under the nonprofit Dominican Home Health Agency. The home health organization has provided care in Denver, Colorado, since 1923. That was a really foundational year for us.

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Hospice News

MAY 25, 2023

Massachusetts-based Advanced Home Care has acquired Dignity Hospice Care for an undisclosed amount. The transaction follows Advanced Home Care’s acquisition of Dignity Home Care late last year. The buyer company’s CEO Art Kalenjian will now take the helm at Dignity Hospice.

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Hospice News

JULY 8, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) has launched the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) payment model with close to 400 participating organizations, including many palliative care providers. The CMS Innovation Center announced the GUIDE demonstration in July 2023.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Over time, Medicare Advantage plans will likely have a greater presence as hospice payers, and now is the time for providers to build relationships those organizations. Originally slated to end in 2024, CMS recently extended the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID) to 2023. SCAN is a $4.3

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NHPCO

APRIL 28, 2023

For Immediate Release April 28, 2023 (Alexandria, VA) – Earlier this month, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) published details on the extension of the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model that may have significant implications for hospice care going forward.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 3, 2024

The bipartisan legislation was introduced in December 2023 by Sens. The bill builds upon the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015, designed to speed transitions to patient-centered, value-based care. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Dr. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.),

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