Hospice News

MAY 17, 2024

After three years of investigation, a federal court in Louisiana has sentenced the former owner of Canon Healthcare, Shiva Akula, to serve 240 months in prison for his involvement in health care fraud. The charges included fraudulent claims for physician services and home visits, as well as manipulation of Medicare billing codes.

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Hospice News

MARCH 28, 2025

Nonprofit organizations represent the majority of hospice care providers in New York. The two known for-profit hospices operating in New York have both been under the supervision of the states Department of Health, which to date has not found any issues with fraud or quality of care at either company.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 10, 2025

David Jackson, CEO, Choice Health at Home Overall, we would not expect the hospice industry to see substantial change in 2025 relative to recent history from a utilization, compliance or reimbursement perspective. Croix Hospice We’re going to continue to see the expanded acceptance and understanding of the values of the hospice benefit.

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Hospice News

JULY 16, 2024

The hospice community is contributing input to the development of the forthcoming Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act. NPHI has consistently advocated for reform to the Medicare hospice benefit reimbursement methodology.

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Hospice News

APRIL 16, 2025

Strong staff education and reimbursement are among the keys to successfully integrating social determinants of health within a palliative care program. Catholic Hospice and Catholic Palliative Care Services is part of the Florida-based Catholic Health Services of the Archdiocese of Miami. Screening tools developed by the U.S.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Florida-based Hope Healthcare has affiliated with Chapters Health System, a nonprofit provider of hospice, palliative care and home health, among other services. Combined with its affiliates, Chapters Health is the largest nonprofit hospice provider in the nation and the sixth overall.

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Hospice News

APRIL 18, 2025

The barometer is falling in hospice care delivery. Adaptability is a providers hallmark in todays current hospice landscape, according to Greg Wood, executive director at Hospice of the Ozarks. DBA Hope HealthCare Services. Florida-based Hope HealthCare is an affiliate of the nonprofit Chapters Health System.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 9, 2024

Though Addus has focused on growing its personal care and home health services, hospice remains a pillar of its strategy. VITAS Healthcare, a subsidiary of Chemed Corp. Hospices have focused on expanding awareness and education to better equip staff in both recognizing and responding to a wide range of trauma experiences.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 15, 2024

Hospice providers and stakeholders are carefully examining the proposed changes included in the recently introduced Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act as the bill begins its journey through the legislative process. this summer. “It

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Hospice News

JANUARY 17, 2025

A group of providers and state associations are plaintiffs in the suit, including Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice, Indiana Association for Home & Hospice Care, Association for Home & Hospice Care of North Carolina, South Carolina Home Care & Hospice Association and Houston Hospice.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 1, 2024

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.

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Hospice News

MAY 12, 2023

As regulators turn their eyes toward hospice program integrity, Community Healthcare of Texas CEO Viki Jingle has seen first-hand the “heartbreaking disservice” that families experience due to unethical practices. Community Healthcare of Texas Chief Strategy Officer Robin Carter (Left), o Rep. She and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.)

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Hospice News

JUNE 11, 2024

Federal regulators should increase scrutiny of private equity activity in the hospice space, according to the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). In 2022, 5,899 hospices provided care to Medicare beneficiaries, up 10% year-over-year, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC).

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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

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized its 2024 home health rule, including the implementation of a hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). The rule also finalizes the proposed “36-month”rule for hospice providers.

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Seasons Hospice

APRIL 22, 2025

Two terms that often arise in these conversations are palliative care and hospice care. In this months blog post, well break down the key differences between palliative care and hospice care, explore how they are delivered, who can benefit from them, and when each type of care is appropriate.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 15, 2024

The post-Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in landscape could include wider value-based reimbursement avenues in the hospice space, leading providers to pivot into MA payer relationships. The forthcoming end of the hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) demonstrative takes effect Dec.

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Hospice News

MARCH 29, 2024

The 2025 proposed hospice rule is raising some questions along with payment rates. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a 2.6% increase in hospice per diems for 2025. We know that hospice care has demonstrated $3.5 Hospice care saves Medicare roughly $3.5

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Hospice News

JUNE 13, 2024

Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) is drafting a landmark bill that, if enacted, would represent the most significant reforms to date for hospice payment and oversight. Blumenauer announced the bill, the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act, on Thursday at the Hospice News Elevate conference in Washington D.C.

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Traditions Health

JANUARY 5, 2025

Although you may have heard of hospice care , you may not know how its actually arranged. Because hospice is for terminally ill patients, it can be difficult to talk about for yourself or your loved one. Traditions Health understands how stressful it can be to opt for end-of-life care. Why hospice care?

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Hospice News

MARCH 3, 2023

The families of patients who received care from nonprofit hospices give their providers higher marks on quality than those who went with for-profits, a RAND Corp. For six of the seven measures, for-profit and nonprofit hospices had average scores of 94.7% study has found. The post RAND Corp.:

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 13, 2023

Implementation of the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in has been challenging for both payers and providers, though a recent analysis indicates that it may get easier over time. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) commissioned the RAND Corp.

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Hospice News

MARCH 21, 2024

Members of Congress are raising questions about the continued Medicare certification for new hospices in areas rife with fraud. Some of these providers engaged in referral kickback schemes, enrolled patients who were not eligible for hospice and lied to them about being terminally ill. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.)

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Hospice News

JUNE 14, 2023

The nation’s total health care spend is expected to swell by 5.4% Meanwhile, Medicare hospice spending is expected to more than double by 2032. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary also project that health care expenditures will represent 19.6% These data from the U.S.

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Hospice News

MARCH 29, 2023

“For a hospice administrator or executive, you really have to be very focused on your length of stay data,” Young told Hospice News in a recent Elevate podcast episode. Are you in an outlier scenario with your data that Medicare contractors are looking at? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 3, 2023

It would have prohibited the establishment of for-profit hospices in New York state and forbid current for-profit operators from increasing capacity. . Data suggest that hospice care is underutilized in New York compared to other states, straining other elements of the health care system,” Hochul wrote in her veto.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 16, 2024

“For hospice services specifically, an aging population, along with better informed family members about the positive aspects of hospice care, along with an increased dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, are all drivers of these crucial services,” he said. Among Medicare beneficiaries, 45,760 elected the hospice benefit in 2022.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 7, 2024

Among the significant changes coming this year is the end of the hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) model, as of Dec. Commonly known as the “carve-in,” the program was designed to test hospice care coverage through Medicare Advantage, as well as some coverage of palliative care and transitional care.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 11, 2025

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). As Calvarys new president, Fosina will oversee the organizations growth across its service lines, which include acute hospital care, palliative care, hospice and community-based care.

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Hospice News

MAY 7, 2024

Beginning in 2021, numerous reports emerged of unethical or illegal practices among hundreds of newly licensed hospices, particularly among new companies popping up in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona. Thus far, California is the only state to take action on the issue, including a moratorium on hospice licensing.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 2, 2023

This evolving mix of hospice regulation has placed staff oversight at the forefront of ensuring compliance, according to Christie Piland, director of education at Caris Healthcare. Additional services include palliative care, a veterans program and care coordination. On Wednesday, the U.S.

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Hospice News

JULY 17, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is conducting a small pilot program for post-payment reviews of hospice stays that exceed 90 days. The agency has contracted with Noridian Healthcare Solutions, LLC as its Supplemental Medical Review Contractor (SMRC). billion, a rate of 12%, Noridian indicated.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 23, 2023

Though hospices operate within the dedicated Medicare benefit, market forces in the system at large wield considerable influence on how they operate — including the meteoric rise of managed care. The first, published last week, addressed the intersection of hospice care, behavioral health and chronic disease management.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 8, 2023

Hospices seeking to gauge the potential impact of new regulatory actions in the space can look to their counterparts in the home health field. CMS is no doubt hoping for similar results for the Medicare Hospice Benefit. In that time frame, Nevada saw 56 newly certified hospices, and 369 emerged in Texas.

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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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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. NYSE: CHE).

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 10, 2024

Cameron Muir has been named as the new CMO of the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI). His new title signals the organization’s strategic plans to reshape hospice care delivery through patient-centered, innovative approaches, according to NPHI CEO Tom Koutsoumpas.

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