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

AUGUST 17, 2023

Washington-headquartered Family Resource Home Care recently acquired personal care provider Companion Care, Inc., adding to its growing footprint in its home state. We are thrilled to announce our acquisition of Companion Care, Inc., Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Census Bureau.

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Hospice News

MARCH 1, 2023

Kosciusko Home Care & Hospice (KHCH) has merged with Stillwater Hospice amid mounting financial pressures. The two Indiana-based nonprofit hospices joined forces to ensure continued access to end-of-life care in the Kosciusko County area. This falls in line with national averages that hovered at 47.8%

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Hospice News

JULY 3, 2023

Stakeholders that have endorsed the legislation include NHPCO, AARP, the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM), the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC), the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and the National Partnership for Hospice Innovation (NPHI), among others.

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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

JULY 23, 2024

The Medicare Hospice Benefit is ripe for change nearly four decades after its establishment, but moving the needle will include a heavy lift around evolving regulations. This is according to Bill Dombi, president of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC). But hospice has moved into a new era.

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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). The 2021 aggregated Medicare hospice margin was 13.3%, according to MedPAC.

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Hospice News

MARCH 29, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a 2.6% We know that hospice care has demonstrated $3.5 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.”

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Hospice News

JUNE 7, 2023

” Arizona had 239 new Medicare-certified hospices appear between 2018 and 2022, representing 52% of all providers in the state. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to address this issue, providing 34 recommendations. “There are people who are running hospitals programs that are only theoretical.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 15, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), asking for the agency to brief them on fraud and abuse within the hospice benefit. Hospice can be an important part of a patient’s care, but only if it is operating as intended,” the legislators wrote in the letter. “We Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.)

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

Three California-based hospices established the CHN to support the growth of community-based hospice care throughout their state — the Elizabeth Hospice in San Diego, Mission Hospice & Home Care in San Mateo and Hospice of Santa Cruz County. Nonprofit hospices in several states have formed similar coalitions.

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Hospice News

JULY 26, 2024

The most recent iteration of Hospice Care Accountability, Reform and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act, currently in a discussion draft phase, could have some unintended consequences in the future of end-of-life care delivery. Developed by U.S.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 14, 2023

Past payment model demonstrations that included community-based palliative care offer a window into how these services could generate cost savings and improved quality. Among those demos is the Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM), which ran between 2016 and 2021. An analysis from the U.S.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 12, 2024

However, efforts to fill that gap in care often struggle due to limited reimbursement, primarily managed through Medicare fee-for-service, Gentiva COO Nick Stengle said in a panel discussion at the Home Care 100 Conference in Scottsdale, Arizona. We’re not charging Medicare for a visit.

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Hospice News

JULY 17, 2024

Alivia Care emerged in 2020 when Community Hospice & Palliative Care, now an affiliate, formed a larger company with a broader range of services. The nonprofit provides home care, hospice, advance care and supportive and palliative care across northern Florida and southern Georgia.

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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

DECEMBER 1, 2022

We identified numerous indicators of such fraud and abuse by hospice agencies, which typically offer palliative end-of-life care to individuals with medical diagnoses of fewer than six months to live.”. “The state’s weak controls have created the opportunity for large-scale fraud and abuse,” CDOJ indicated in its report. “We

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Hospice News

JULY 28, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is giving hospices a 3.1% The final rule includes considerations around health equity measures, hospice ownership and spending patterns around unrelated end-of-life care services, CMS stated. The finalized rule also raises the aggregate payment cap to $33,494.01

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 21, 2022

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure. Signatories on the joint letter included Leading Age, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). “We

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 3, 2024

31, these flexibilities allowed hospices to perform routine home care visits virtually and conduct face-to-face recertification visits. The National Alliance for Care at Home spearheaded the effort. Currently set to expire Dec.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 17, 2023

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) convened a group of hospice leaders at Times Square in New York City to commemorate Carter’s hospice experience. Some hospice executives have said they believe that his example will prompt more Americans to learn more about this form of end-of-life care.

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Hospice News

MARCH 12, 2024

The nation’s four largest hospice industry organizations — LeadingAge, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC), the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) — in late 2023 conducted a 133-respondent provider survey focused on regulation.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 11, 2022

Demographics are pushing up demand for end-of-life care amid long-standing staffing shortages in hospice. Some hospices have been unable to sufficiently fill their ranks to keep up with that demand for care, resulting in them either temporarily limiting new patients or completely ending services.

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Traditions Health

JANUARY 5, 2025

Traditions Health understands how stressful it can be to opt for end-of-life care. Why hospice care? Patient: The patient must decide that they no longer wish to receive curative treatment but wish to receive comfort measures only during this end-of-life journey. Continuous home care is short-term in nature.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

Guaranteed Health is redefining the end-of-life-care experience by building a-first-of-its-kind technology and AI-enabled platform that supports patients, caregivers, providers and payers. Guaranteed serves Medicare and Medicaid patients across five counties in southern California, including the Los Angeles region.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 12, 2023

Justice Department accused the pair of submitting thousands of false claims to Medicare and of arranging more than $2 million in kickbacks in exchange for referrals. In total, Atoyan, Karapetyan and others caused the agencies to submit over 8,000 claims to Medicare for the cost of home health care and hospice services. “In

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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. ” One key set of data pertains to the utilization of continuous home care (CHC), general inpatient care (GIP) and inpatient respite care (IRC).

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Hospice News

JUNE 14, 2024

But the majority of hospices are striving to provide quality end-of-life experiences to terminally ill patients and their families, Harrison said at the Hospice News Elevate conference in Washington D.C. Fraudsters have bilked Medicare for millions, with some cases resulting in criminal charges and even imprisonment.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 30, 2023

Three independent providers — By the Bay Health, Mission Hospice & Home Care and Hope Hospice — will merge, becoming the largest nonprofit hospice network in northern California. To be able to combine our organizations, hospice and home care, it really does expand that mission even further.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 6, 2023

Pending regulatory approval, Alaska-based Bartlett Regional Hospital may be stepping in to fill care delivery gaps after a local hospice closed due to labor shortages. Hospice and Home Care of Juneau (HHCJ) shuttered its services last year, citing high staffing costs and lack of clinicians.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 19, 2022

Hospice and Home Care of Juneau shutters. Alaska-based Hospice and Home Care of Juneau (HHCJ) recently announced its closure, citing high staffing costs and lack of clinicians. HHCJ had two hospice and 17 home health patients on its services when the closure took effect on October 19. Census Bureau. Census Bureau.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Utah-headquartered Canyon Home Care & Hospice has acquired Arizona-based internal medicine practice Thomas G. Internists specialize in caring for patients with cancer and infections or diseases affecting the heart, blood, lungs, kidneys, joints, or digestive tracts. “We Dallman, M.D., LLC for an undisclosed sum.

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Hospice News

JULY 25, 2023

Data are reshaping the health care space, and hospice is no exception. Data has played a large role in the ability to gauge the impact of end-of life care. Hospice providers have needed a window into access and utilization, as well as how lawmakers are shaping policies around health care.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 4, 2022

“Our journey at Choice has always been about creating a continuum of care in the home,” Trina Lanier, president of Choice and co-founder of its hospice and home health segments, said in a statement. Similar to national demographic trends, demand for serious illness and end-of-life care is expected to swell in Arizona.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 17, 2023

Among them is an evolving conversation around potential changes to the Medicare Hospice Benefit, an increasing focus on equitable access and service diversification to engage patients further upstream. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended through 2030. Hospice care reduces Medicare expenditures by about $3.5

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 12, 2022

The JV is currently honing its focus on expanding access to home care for seniors across South Dakota. Even as demographics drive up demand for serious illness and end-of-life care, public awareness is driving down utilization. Seniors are projected to make up 27.5% currently, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 13, 2024

This year saw regulatory evolutions spurred by program integrity concerns, as well as the introduction of landmark legislation, shifts in reimbursement trends and a change in presidential administration with unknown impacts across the care continuum. Defendants were charged with wire fraud, health care fraud and money laundering.

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