Hospice News

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

The ability to monitor and educate staff on their roles and responsibilities in compliance will be a key for hospice sustainability and quality heading into 2024, Piland said at the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s (NHPCO) Annual Leadership Conference in Little Rock, Arkansas. On Wednesday, the U.S.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 21, 2023

Recently, many of those efforts have included advocacy around program integrity within the Medicare Hospice Benefit. The organizations have been moving forward under the guidance of a steering committee informed by members of both NAHC and NHPCO, with support from the consulting firm McKinley Advisors.

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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. Part of the problem is that the [Medicare] Hospice Benefit is 40 plus years old.

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Hospice News

JULY 28, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is giving hospices a 3.1% increase to their per diem payments for 2024, according to a final rule published Friday. payment boost the agency initially proposed for 2024 hospice payments back in March. The finalized rule also raises the aggregate payment cap to $33,494.01

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Hospice News

MAY 31, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reconsider the proposed 2.8% base rate increase for 2024. CMS published the proposal in March, which also contained a slough of data, requests for information and measures to enhance program integrity and health equity.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 2, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) recently finalized hospice payment rule. Providers should be submitting all the quality data that helps inform and improve quality of care for patients and families. The post 2024 Final Rule May Signal Changes in CMS’ Approach to Hospice Quality appeared first on Hospice News.

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Hospice News

JULY 30, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has unveiled its final 2025 hospice rule, which includes a 2.9% The increase represents an estimated $790 million rise in total hospice payments compared to Fiscal Year (FY) 2024. increase in per diem payments alongside new quality reporting measures. It is also higher than the 2.6%

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 12, 2023

Hospice News sat down with providers, advocacy groups, legal experts and other stakeholders to uncover the most significant hospice regulatory trends from this year and their anticipated impacts heading into 2024 and beyond. Many established services for the purpose of selling the license at a profit or defrauding Medicare.

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Hospice News

JUNE 20, 2023

Some telehealth flexibilities temporarily instituted during the PHE will linger until the end of 2024, while others have already ended. Hospices are also facing the growing risk of cybersecurity threats that have included incidents of exposed private health information belonging to patients.

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Hospice News

MARCH 29, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a 2.6% billion in annual savings for Medicare, which underscores the critical importance of investing in hospice to ensure continued beneficiary access to quality end-of-life care.” Hospice care saves Medicare roughly $3.5 In a proposed rule released yesterday, the U.S.

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Hospice News

APRIL 18, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is insufficient to support hospice patients’ care needs, a major industry group said. CMS earlier this month released its 2024 hospice proposed rule , which included the 2.8% After a moratorium during the pandemic, full Medicare sequestration resumed on July 1, 2022.

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Hospice News

MAY 31, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) inquiries into high-acuity palliative care, but expressed concern over reimbursement and staffing issues. The agency’s 2025 proposed hospice rule featured a series of requests for information (RFI) on issues like health equity, social determinants of health and future quality measures.

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Hospice News

MAY 2, 2023

Language in the 2024 proposed rule for the Medicare hospice program gives some indication of where the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is heading when it comes to quality measurement requirements. If the rule is finalized as written, this will jump to 4%in Fiscal Year 2024 — retroactively to 2022 data.

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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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Hospice News

JULY 13, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is implementing a “period of enhanced oversight” for new hospices in California, Nevada, Arizona and Texas. A key component of the enhanced oversight includes a medical review of claims before a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) will pay them.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 25, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to launch the program in 2024, according to language included in the agency’s proposed home health rule for 2024. The TEP completed its work late last year, and now, per the 2024 proposed home health rule, the agency wants to move ahead with it next year.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 11, 2023

This year has brought several regulatory changes to the hospice space, including the proliferation of various audits , including Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) audits conducted by Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACS). Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the SFP program in its final 2024 home health rule.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 4, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS convened a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) to help design the program, which the agency plans to implement next year, according to its 2024 proposed rule for home health agencies. “We Four members of Congress led by Reps.

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Hospice News

JUNE 13, 2024

The bill would also implement a temporary, national moratorium on the enrollment of new hospices into Medicare, to help stem the tide of fraudulent activities among recently established providers concentrated primarily in California, Arizona, Texas and Nevada. “We

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Hospice News

AUGUST 4, 2023

The 2024 final hospice payment rule included a modest payment increase for general inpatient care (GIP) at a time when regulators are zeroing in on increased utilization and longer stays. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) included in the rule a 1.031% increase to hospice GIP services.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 30, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed 2024 home health rule includes plans to implement a hospice Special Focus Program, but some stakeholders contend that some aspects are flawed. The agency wants to move ahead with it in 2024.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 2, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Medicare may cover CHC for as long as 24 hours a day. More recently, CMS included requests for information (RFIs) in its proposed 2024 hospice rule around access barriers to these higher-acuity services, pointing towards claims data that reflected underutilization.

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Hospice News

APRIL 5, 2024

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed 2025 hospice rule is finalized as written, hospices may encounter some hurdles implementing some of the new requirements. If the U.S. CMS late last month issued its proposed hospice rule for 2025. The proposal called for a 2.6%

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Hospice News

MAY 1, 2023

Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) included updates to some of these initiatives in its 2024 proposed hospice payment rule. CMS has a technical expert panel (TEP) to examine the potential addition and included requests for information (RFI) designed to gather insight on how hospices are approaching health equity.

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Hospice News

APRIL 19, 2024

A bill introduced in February proposes to expand limitations within the Freedom of Information Act that prohibit the disclosure of certain personal and background information of state and public agency employees, including health workers. 1, 2024 if enacted. Receiving favorable support thus far , the bill would take effect Oct.

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Hospice News

JUNE 14, 2024

Fraudsters have bilked Medicare for millions, with some cases resulting in criminal charges and even imprisonment. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in its finalized 2024 hospice rule implemented increased penalties for hospices that fail to comply with quality reporting requirements. Additionally, the U.S.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 3, 2024

The bill builds upon the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015, designed to speed transitions to patient-centered, value-based care. It helps offset the costs of rebuilding care teams, installing information technology and redesigning work flows to be successful in these models.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

Logan Hoover, vice president of policy and government relations for the National Alliance for Care at Home, has been named a 2024 Future Leader by Hospice News. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS)] efforts there. To see this year’s Future Leaders, visit [link]. Program Integrity is still going to be an issue.

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Hospice News

JULY 7, 2023

The OIG’s “Audit of Selected, High-Risk Medicare Hospice General Inpatient Services” will examine Medicare claims for hospice enrollees who were transferred to general inpatient care (GIP) following an acute hospitalization. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) considers unusual.

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Hospice News

MAY 9, 2023

Certain telehealth flexibilities temporarily implemented during the PHE are sticking around until the end of 2024, while others are rolling away as it expires. Hospice telehealth a ‘new normal’ While not yet considered permanent, Congress has extended hospices’ ability to do recertifications via telehealth through December 31, 2024.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 16, 2024

Physician offices were identified among the most significant referral growth opportunities in 2024 by about 6% of 143 respondents to Hospice News’ 2024 Outlook Survey , conducted with Homecare Homebase. Hospice News Hospice News 2024 Hospice News Outlook Survey and Report. Among those, roughly 6.7

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NHPCO

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

For Immediate Release November 06, 2024 (Alexandria, VA and Washington, DC) – The National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) has endorsed H.R. The SFP was created under the HOSPICE Act which established additional tools for CMS to oversee the Medicare Hospice Benefit.

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Hospice News

MARCH 22, 2024

The Oregon-based hospice, palliative care and home health provider recently celebrated the 45th anniversary of its founding, which preceded the establishment of the Medicare Hospice Benefit. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)], and we have that distinction in the hospice arena.

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Hospice News

JUNE 16, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) is seeking answers about hospice patients’ access to certain high-cost services. CMS included a series of requests for information (RFIs) in its proposed 2024 hospice payment rule. In 2021, the average length of stay for Medicare patients enrolled in hospice was 92.1

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Hospice News

APRIL 7, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking answers from the hospice community — including some around utilization patterns and non-hospice spending. The recently proposed 2024 hospice payment rule contained a 2.8% This includes items and services covered under Medicare Parts A, B, and D. bump from FY 2019.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 1, 2022

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should implement billing codes and quality assessments for telehealth services, according to new recommendations from the Government Accountability Office (GAO). House of Representatives in July passed legislation to keep them in place through the end of 2024.

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Hospice News

MAY 29, 2024

“We need to be really thoughtful about how we work with primary care providers and utilize palliative care experts to better train and inform our primary care providers,” he said. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is affecting the palliative care space. “We

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