Hospice News

FEBRUARY 14, 2025

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Kennedy voiced a commitment to tackling the root drivers of escalating health care spending across the continuum, much of which is focused on managing chronic diseases, he indicated in the Senate hearing. HHS subagencies include the U.S.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

Hospices’ public outreach efforts have evolved in recent years, with providers finding new strategies to dispel myths that have long impeded access to care. Nearly half, or 49.1%, of all Medicare decedents utilized hospice services in 2022, reported the National Alliance for Care at Home.

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Hospice News

MARCH 10, 2025

Calvary Hospitals newly appointed president Michael Fosina is embarking on a deeper journey to improve quality and access to hospice care amid rising demand. Research and workforce growth will play large roles in the future of palliative and end-of-life care delivery, according to Fosina.

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Hospice News

JULY 14, 2022

Margin pressures from the proposed cuts to Medicare home health rates could impact palliative care and hospice. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in June released its proposed home health reimbursement rule for 2023, which included a 4.2% pay hike for hospice care in 2023.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

Investigations have shown that potentially hundreds of newly licensed hospices have bilked Medicare of millions of dollars during the past several years, all while providing egregiously poor care or none at all. Some individuals also hold management positions at several of these hospices simultaneously.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 8, 2024

Private equity transactions represented half of all home health and hospice deals in 2018 and 2019, resulting in a 300% increase in patients enrolled under PE-backed providers, according to research published in the Journal of Palliative Medicine. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Care Compare site.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 21, 2024

The soon-to-be-implemented hospice Special Focus Program (SFP) from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) could produce misinformation that could interfere with access to care. It might make them even fearful about hospice care, which is the last thing we want to see happen.

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Hospice News

MARCH 22, 2023

Despite years of scrutiny over the duration of hospice care, new data show that longer stays reduce health care costs in the last year of life by as much as 11%. All told, hospice care — regardless of length of stay — saves Medicare approximately $3.5 billion for patients in their last year of life, a 3.1%

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Hospice News

APRIL 10, 2024

The Medicare Hospice Benefit could use an “upgrade” to ensure greater flexibility that may be necessary to fully support patients’ needs. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) should consider is retiring the six-month terminal prognosis requirement and allowing for some concurrent care, Wallace and Wladkowski indicated.

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Hospice News

JULY 13, 2023

This is the first of a two-part service that will detail key findings from recent research on hospice care, featuring numbers that could influence they ways hospices communicate and operate. Hospices’ cost-savings potential A study published in March revealed that hospice saved Medicare roughly $3.5

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Growth in the number of Medicare Advantage beneficiaries will likely overtake that for traditional Medicare in 2025, according to new estimates from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The hospice component of VBID is slated to end on Dec. This is up from 34.3 million as of September 2024.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 3, 2024

Holly Patterson Extended Care Facility. NuHealth was formally known as Nassau Health Care Corp. “By By offering inpatient hospice care at NUMC, we are ensuring all of Nassau County’s residents have access to compassionate end-of-life services regardless of their ability to pay,” said Megan C.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 21, 2025

Weve come a long way in hospice with dementia care, but there are still areas where we struggle with caregiver respite even at the end of life, Jennings told Hospice News. Dementia is a long disease, and people need additional support beyond hospice in sort of a palliative-hospice model in that last year of life.

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Hospice News

MARCH 7, 2025

How can we really partner with them on the talking points to broach these goals-of-care conversations so they understand what is included through Medicare and Medicaid services while still being comfortable in their homes. What are the services that Mahogany Home Health and Hospices is offering?

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 11, 2024

South Carolina-based Hospice Care of the Lowcountry is rebranding as MiraSol Health. The hospices new name contains the Latin word Sol, meaning sun. In addition to hospice, MiraSol offers community-based palliative care and counseling services.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 19, 2024

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. The drafted Hospice CARE Act included potential avenues to improve payment for high-acuity palliative treatments.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

Allowing patients to receive concurrent hospice and curative care reduces health care costs and improves quality. The model’s 7,263 enrollees were Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with a six-month terminal prognosis due to cancer, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or HIV/AIDS.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) has introduced the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, which, if enacted, could revolutionize the Medicare Hospice Benefit. Hospice News photo by Merz Photography. The Alliance shares Rep.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 6, 2024

The SFP has the authority to impose enforcement remedies against hospices with poor performance based on its algorithm. Hospices flagged by the SFP also will be surveyed every six months rather than the current three-year cycle and could face monetary penalties or expulsion from the Medicare program.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 21, 2025

Illinois-based Oasis Hospice & Palliative Care Inc.s journey to open a new inpatient facility came with obstacles, but that has not slowed the hospices growth trajectory, according to CEO Hakeem Bello. The faith-based organization provides hospice, palliative care and bereavement services across three counties in Illinois.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 1, 2024

The workforce shortage and value-based care will shape the future of hospice, according to some providers. The health care reimbursement environment is moving towards significant change. Examples include the Kidney Care Choices Model, the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model and the Enhancing Oncology Model.

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Hospice News

JUNE 12, 2024

Palliative care clinical recruitment involves some unique elements compared to other health care settings. Among the challenges is a general lack of awareness of palliative care and its distinctions from hospice among the public, clinicians in other settings and payers. Palliative care is relatively a new field.

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Hospice News

MAY 22, 2024

A transition from fee-for-service to value-based payment models could help palliative care providers boost recruitment and retention. Providers walk a tightrope when it comes to ensuring that their palliative care services are financially sustainable, including the ability to attract and compensate staff at competitive rates.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

Rising demand and demographic tailwinds are propelling rapid growth in both the hospice and palliative care markets. These markets are growing partly because of demographic trends and partly because of increasing acceptance of both palliative and hospice,” Tanquilut told Hospice News. “As billion by 2030, a rise from $34.5

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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. One part of the issue is that hospice reimbursement has not kept pace with evolving patient needs, Grant said.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

Dallas-based home health and hospice provider Intrepid USA Healthcare Services’ geographic footprint spans 66 locations in 14 states. Intrepid has two locations in Beaumont, Texas, where the company provides home-based hospice, palliative and supportive care services. Hospice utilization rates hovered at 49.1%

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Hospice News

MARCH 15, 2024

McPherson also serves on the board of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) can have an impact on mortality and morbidity among seriously ill patients, according to researchers of a 2019 study published in the Journal of Pain & Palliative Care Pharmacotherapy. About 81.5%

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

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. Yet, societal factors and poor coordination among health care providers can limit its effectiveness and utilization. Warner (D-Va.)

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Hospice News

JUNE 26, 2024

Development of the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform, and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act has signaled that a wave of change may be on the horizon in end-of-life care delivery – including how patients are certified to receive these services. The area of end-of-life care was ripe for a pilot project.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 7, 2024

Gross margin for the hospice segment fell slightly to 42.9% Hospice results were in part impacted by a -4% decrease in patient admissions and a 0.5% Other factors included rising hospice care delivery costs such as investments in clinical staffing and higher compensation and benefit costs, among others, the company reported.

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Hospice News

MAY 31, 2024

Patients with eating disorders can face an array of challenges that impede access to health care and pose risk of negative care experiences, according to Dr. Jonathan Treem, regional medical director of palliative care and hospice at Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group | Kaiser Permanente.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 7, 2024

Hospice reimbursement trends influence palliative care payment and delivery. 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. Value-based payment models such as VBID incentivize quality measurement and reporting among providers.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 2, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a new avenue of funding for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) with implications for palliative care providers. The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announced the new payment demonstration in March.

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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

JANUARY 17, 2025

Regardless of whether hospices choose to explore service diversification, their operations have seen significant changes since the establishment of the Medicare Hospice Benefit a trend largely driven by patient preferences and needs, according to Empath Health CEO Jonathan Fleece.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 11, 2024

Interest has mounted in the palliative care arena, but building and sustaining these services requires stronger reimbursement and workforce resources. But insufficient payment pathways represent a large hurdle for palliative care’s growth potential, Kulik said. “If That makes palliative care’s outlook good.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 30, 2023

Some federal legislators are working to address workforce issues in the hospice space, as well as bolstering support for family caregivers. In a fractious political environment, hospice and palliative care policy is one area in which members of both parties find common ground. Earl Blumenhauer (D-Ore.)

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