Hospice News

FEBRUARY 4, 2025

A guilty plea has been filed in a hospice fraud scheme that allegedly bilked Medicare for $17 million in false claims. Fichidzhyan was among the five individuals that the FBI arrested in June 2024 in connection with the hospice fraud and money laundering scheme. Justice Department.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 23, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has made public its first cohort for the hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). Finalized in the 2024 home health payment rule, the program is designed to identify poor performing hospices, mandate quality improvement and in some cases impose additional penalties.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 10, 2025

Hospice News spoke with a group of industry leaders about the most pressing market forces and trends that will shape the space during 2025. They also spoke about the need for greater integration of hospice into the larger health care continuum and the benefits of operators broadening their scope of services.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 13, 2024

Quality, compliance and financial stability are top of mind in hospice merger and acquisitions (M&A) as this year comes to an end. Growing demand is among the constants driving investor interest in the hospice space, according to Tom Lillis, partner at the Kentucky-based firm Stoneridge Partners Strategic Consulting.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 17, 2024

These evolving regulations have hospices concerned that a lack of virtual access to their services could have significant impacts on quality and health disparities. Weve inherited a kind of accelerated movement toward a new normal during the pandemic, Fratkin told Hospice News.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 27, 2025

Florida-based VITAS Healthcare is anticipating fruitful hospice growth on its horizon. The hospices average daily census volume reached 22,179 patients in Q4, a 14.6% VITAS adjusted EBITDA, excluding Medicare capitation rates, reached $93.2 The Chemed Corp. VITAS $411.0 rise compared to the same period last year.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 10, 2024

NYSE: EHAB) is projecting strong hospice growth in the next year fueled in part by investments in technology and workforce development. The home health and hospice provider is in part leveraging technology to fuel its plans, Jacobsmeyer said during the Bank of Americas Securities 2024 Home Care Conference. Enhabit Inc.

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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

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that its Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) yielded more than $2.1 As of January 2024, roughly 480 ACOs are participating in MSSP, which include more than 608,000 clinicians who provide care to nearly 11 million Medicare beneficiaries.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

The company is a value-based organization that partners with primary care physicians nationwide to jointly take on the total cost and quality of care for their senior patients through Medicare Advantage or the the U.S. Net loss was $118 million in the third quarter of 2024 compared to a net loss of $31 million in the third quarter 2023.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 12, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has not responded to congressional concerns about the hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). Set for 2025 implementation, the SFP promises to identify hospices delivering poor quality care and target them for improvement remedies. Van Duyne told Hospice News in an email.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 18, 2023

Aetna, a subsidiary of CVS Health (NYSE: CVS), is leveraging a series of new benefits that, coupled with existing palliative care programs and ongoing hospice payment demonstrations, promise to keep patients in their homes and out of facilities. In 2024, we have plans that offer $0 copay for primary care visits and labs.

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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

DECEMBER 8, 2023

Hospice providers will be looking to Congress in 2024 to address issues related to program integrity, quality improvement and industry-wide workforce pressures. As legislative efforts develop, hospices may want to focus their attention on a few key legislators.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Hospice operators in 2024 are navigating a rapidly transforming environment. The prior three years have laid the groundwork for change, particularly in the regulatory space as well as gradual migration towards value-based reimbursement and in tandem, the proliferation of business lines beyond hospice.

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Hospice News

MARCH 14, 2025

Rising demand for end-of-life care is pushing hospice growth opportunities to the forefront in value-based reimbursement. More payers in this arena are increasingly recognizing the depth of potential beneficial outcomes when it comes to collaborative hospice partnerships. billion in 2022, Medicare (MedPAC) reported.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 20, 2025

Scott Herman, CEO of New Day Healthcare, told Hospice News in an email. The transaction adds personal care services to New Days hospice and home health operations in the Houston area, a key step in the providers efforts to build out a multi-faceted continuum of care. Hospice utilization rates hovered at 49.1% Census Bureau.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 11, 2024

Finding the right balance of support and career development for bereavement care professionals is key to recruitment and retention as hospices combat labor strains. The weight of providing bereavement care can take a heavy toll on staff and impact turnover rates, according to Jennifer Kincaid, chief people officer at Hospice of the Piedmont.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 14, 2025

A 2024 study published in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management found that palliative care is associated with improved patient outcomes from palliative care enrollment until death, including fewer hospitalizations, 5.4 However, Schramm said that few freestanding hospices or palliative providers have succeeded in becoming members of ACOs.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Growth in the number of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will likely overtake that for traditional Medicare in 2025, according to new estimates from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). million as of September 2024. The hospice component of VBID is slated to end on Dec. This is up from 34.3

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Calls have grown louder for an overhauled design of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, but the path towards change is riddled with contrasting views over regulation, policy and payment structures. One part of the issue is that hospice reimbursement has not kept pace with evolving patient needs, Grant said.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 31, 2024

The Texas-based home health and hospice company VitalCaring Group was built largely through acquisitions, and the company expects to step up that strategy in 2024 with an emphasis on hospice. We’re very well-poised going into 2024 to start executing on our growth strategy. We did a couple of acquisitions last year.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

Greater transparency in staff evaluation processes and increased education will be keys to navigating a range of hospice compliance challenges in a post-pandemic landscape. Transparency around hospice staffing and ownership is a large focus of program integrity efforts among regulators, Piland stated. On Wednesday, the U.S.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 19, 2024

Though the number of hospice M&A deals plummeted in 2023 compared to prior years, deals are still being made, and the industry may see a rebound in 2024. Transaction volume declined in the hospice and home-based care space in 2023, following the two record-breaking prior years. This followed its $5.4 NYSE: HUM) for $2.8

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Hospice News

MARCH 31, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) late Friday released the 2024 proposed payment rule for hospice providers. In it, CMS proposed to update hospice payments by 2.8%, which includes a market-basket percentage increase of 3% and a 0.2 percentage point productivity adjustment. set for 2023.

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Hospice News

JUNE 27, 2024

Hospices have been advocating for lawmakers and regulators to take action on curbing fraud, supporting veterans and bolstering the health care workforce. Battling fraud Reports of unethical or illegal practices have surged, particularly among hundreds of newly certified hospices in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona. Recently Rep.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 13, 2024

Fraud and program integrity concerns dominated the news in 2024, along with large acquisitions, payment rules and regulatory changes. Meanwhile, lawmakers unveiled a bill with some of the most significant reforms proposed to date for hospice payment and oversight. The following are the most-read Hospice News articles of 2024. #1:

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

This year has brought both tumultuous challenges and evolving opportunities for hospices that will steer hospice leadership during 2024. Hospice News spoke with a group of industry leaders about the most impactful forces that will shape the space in the coming year. Hospice care reduces Medicare expenditures by about $3.5

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Hospice News

MAY 31, 2023

Citing inflation and other headwinds, hospice providers and industry organizations are urging the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider the proposed 2.8% base rate increase for 2024. In public comments on the proposal, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) called for a 3.7%

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Hospice News

APRIL 5, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will allow hospice patients to receive concurrent care through the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in, and will permit health plans to further restrict utilization of out-of-network providers. Further changes will occur in the larger model during the extension years.

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Hospice News

APRIL 3, 2023

The 2024 proposed hospice rule from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) signals the agency’s earliest response to widespread calls to bolster program integrity within the benefit. We should anticipate increased emphasis on program integrity in the hospice program.” In additional to a 2.8%

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 21, 2023

Two of the nation’s largest hospice and home-based care industry organizations are merging and have announced a combined board that will guide the transition. Recently, many of those efforts have included advocacy around program integrity within the Medicare Hospice Benefit. Lloyd, president and CEO, Delaware Hospice, Inc.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 4, 2023

After the tumultuous years of the pandemic, VITAS Healthcare expects a stable growth trajectory heading into 2024. Though the company has not yet released financial guidance for 2024, VITAS anticipates a “predictable” 2024 in terms of earnings and growth, executives said at Monday’s Bank of America Healthcare Conference.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 23, 2024

Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED) is pushing forward on palliative care growth in 2024 through its innovation arm, Contessa. Expanding palliative care relationships and joint venture partnerships is a priority for 2024, the Louisiana-based home health and hospice provider indicated in a filing with the U.S. million beneficiaries.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 15, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is making significant changes in 2024 to the Accountable Care Organization Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health (ACO REACH) payment model. In 2024, participants that achieve certain benchmarks will receive bonuses on a graduated scale based on their performance.

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Hospice News

JUNE 7, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has updated its guidance on the recently implemented hospice certifying physician Medicare enrollment requirement. That instruction, if implemented, could have resulted in major negative impacts on hospices and the patients and families they serve.

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Hospice News

MAY 3, 2023

Federal regulators are cracking down on the private insurers that administer Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began giving plans more flexibility around the definition of “primarily health-related.” The rule included an increase to MA payment of 3.32% for 2024.

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