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The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended to Congress a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2026. In its annual report to Congress, MedPAC urged policymakers to eliminate hospice base-rate increases for 2026. Total Medicarehospice expenditures reached $25.7
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.
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.
If enacted, the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act could open up reimbursement pathways for high-acuity palliative services during a time when demand and costs are rising. But things that we didn’t understand were palliative actually are services many hospices are providing to communities.
A coalition of hospice, home health and palliative care organizations has called on Congress to extend temporary telehealth flexibilities implemented during the pandemic. 31, these flexibilities allowed hospices to perform routine home care visits virtually and conduct face-to-face recertification visits. Currently set to expire Dec.
Hospice industry organizations have voiced support for proposed updates to the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys, but raised questions on the implementation timeline. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) included the updates in its proposed hospice payment rule for 2025.
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
Hospice transactions are facing a new world of challenges during a time when M&A activity is projected to ramp up after recent lulls. More founders who began their organizations when the MedicareHospice Benefit was established in the 1980s are reaching retirement. Who’s going to receive the proceeds?
A bill currently before Congress would extend through 2026 regulatory flexibilities related to telehealth, including the ability to recertify patients for hospice care. If a hospice is undergoing a period of enhanced oversight by the U.S. If a hospice is undergoing a period of enhanced oversight by the U.S.
The Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act, if enacted, would make changes to the ways hospices provide respite care. Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) is in the process of drafting the bill that would represent the most significant reforms to date for hospice payment and oversight.
Among the temporary flexibilities set to end includes the ability for all Medicare patients to receive telehealth services in their home, as well as the waiver of geographic restrictions around where and how non-behavioral health services can be delivered.
During the COVID-19 public health emergency, CMS health care providers’ ability to deliver care via telehealth, including hospices and palliative care providers. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee held a hearing to markup a new bill that would extend those flexibilities through the end of 2026. This week, the U.S.
Research trends can help hospice providers improve their understanding around the impacts of their services and where quality gaps may exist. Research on global and national levels can play an important role in the ability to understand issues around hospice utilization and disparities. Congress extended the flexibility through Dec.
The future outlook of hospice compliance is a mixed bag of uncertainty as program integrity oversight heats up alongside evolutions in telehealth regulation. Hospices today are facing one of the most challenging regulatory environments that the industry has seen, according to Pamela Duncan Owens, chief compliance officer of Agape Care.
Our bold strategy focuses on regions where there are significant gaps in care for underserved adults,” Williams told Hospice News. New Jersey-headquartered BoldAge PACE emerged in 2023, established by a group of former hospice and home health leaders. The PACE and hospice relationship is important. Census Bureau reported.
Disruption in home health reimbursement has an influence on the hospice mergers and acquisitions market, particularly among the rising number of companies offering both services. So many industry consolidators paused all but the most strategic deals and pivoted to hospice. “. A few factors come into play here.
State of telepalliative regulations Congress currently is weighing a bill, the Preserving Telehealth, Hospital, and Ambulance Access Act , that proposes to extend the expiration of regulatory flexibilities tied to telehealth through 2026. 31, these waivers included the ability for hospices to recertify patients via telehealth services.
Palliative services that address patients social needs, manage their pain and symptoms and provide caregiver support have increasingly become critical aspects of value-based payment demonstrations coming out of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), she said. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
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.
The nations hospice utilization rate among Medicare decedents has once again surpassed 50%, for the first time since the pandemic. Hospice utilization reached 51.7% in 2023, up more than two percentage points from the prior year, according to recent data from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC).
8: What Providers Need to Know About the Hospice Quality Reporting Program Dr. Jennifer Kennedy, Vice President of Quality & Standards at CHAP, discusses what CMS's Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) means for the care continuum as a whole, and the most important things for providers to be aware of.
More Medicare Advantage organizations are developing customized plans for patients with special needs, including for those who may need palliative care or are nearing the end of life. Scan Group Scan Group Dr. The move preempts new policies by the Biden Administration that do not take effect until 2026.
Hospices have taken their first steps towards value-based reimbursement during the past two years, but signs point to a long journey ahead. Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation is currently testing coverage of hospice care through Medicare Advantage through the Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) program.
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to increase payments to Medicare Advantage plans for 4.3% in 2026, but implementation will depend on what happens with the new presidential administration. billion in additional payments in 2026 that the agency has called not necessary to support stability in the program.
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