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Payers to CMMI: We Need a Standardized Definition for Palliative Care

Hospice News

A group of health plans, policymakers, and insurance companies recently told the Center for Medicare & Medicare Innovation (CMMI) that they needed a standardized definition for palliative care in order to improve access. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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C-TAC: CMS’ ‘Palliative’ Definition in 2025 Proposed Hospice Rule ‘Misaligned, Problematic’

Hospice News

Efforts to establish potential payment mechanisms for high-acuity palliative services within the Medicare Hospice Benefit will require greater clarity from regulators, according to the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC). The use of the term ‘palliative’ for treatments in this RFI was problematic.”

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Hospice of the Valley: Redefining the End-of-Life Care Delivery Outlook

Hospice News

He was so intrigued that he gathered a few volunteers and began Hospice of the Valley, which was largely a volunteer organization living off of a few grants here and there prior to when hospice Medicare reimbursement came around in the early 1980s. There was a lot of community involvement. That is the future.

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Hospice Researchers Seek to Untangle Possible Relationships Between Tax Status and Outcomes

Hospice News

The research examined Medicare hospice beneficiary data including timely start of care following patient admission, disenrollment and live discharge rates, volume of patient visits, length of stay and billing claim amounts. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Care Compare site.

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Palliative Care, Health Equity Growing in Medicare Advantage

Hospice News

Reimbursement for community-based palliative care is gaining ground in the Medicare Advantage realm. Palliative care is among the wide range of supplemental benefits that exist within the Medicare Advantage payment landscape. This is a rise from 180 MA plans in 2023 offering palliative services and 64 MA plans in 2020.

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How an Advance Care Planning Bill Could Impact Hospice and Medicare

Hospice News

and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the Improving Access to Advance Care Planning Act to the Senate designed to promote greater access to those services among Medicare beneficiaries. Another is allowing the definition of eligible providers of these services. Sunsetting the co-pays could cost Medicare roughly $104.5

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Dynamics of Palliative Care Delivery in a Potential Medicare Benefit

Hospice News

A moving target in palliative care delivery is whether or not these services should have a dedicated benefit in the Medicare system. Most palliative care in the United States is reimbursed through fee-for-service programs, as well as Medicare Advantage, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and through Medicaid in a handful of states.