Hospice News

NOVEMBER 16, 2023

Medicare fee-for-service programs made $31.23 billion in improper payments during 2023, though a smaller proportion of those dollars went to hospices than in years prior. Hospices received nearly 5.4% of improper payments from Medicare in 2023, down from 12% in 2022, according to a new report from the U.S.

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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

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 7, 2023

Allowing patients to receive concurrent hospice and curative care reduces health care costs and improves quality. We really didn’t find subgroups that were not benefiting from the model,” Kranker told Hospice News. “We Enrolled patients were also more likely to transition to the traditional Medicare Hospice Benefit.

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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. Blumenaur’s office and members of the House Ways and Means Committee.

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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. Blumenauer announced the bill at the Hospice News Elevate conference in Washington D.C. Hospice News photo by Merz Photography.

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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

JULY 31, 2023

Rising regulatory scrutiny around length of stay may be having adverse impacts on health care costs and quality, hospice leaders said in a recent Congressional briefing. Longer stays yield greater savings Regulators have fixed their gaze on longer hospice stays as signals of potential fraud, waste and abuse.

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Hospice News

APRIL 5, 2023

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.

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Hospice News

JULY 22, 2024

Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries are less likely to receive intensive treatments or burdensome transfers during the last six months of life compared to those in traditional Medicare, a new study has found. However, they identified gaps in which patients don’t always receive sufficient post-acute care. “We

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Hospice News

JULY 13, 2023

The health care space — including hospice — is increasingly shaped by numbers. During the past several years hospice providers have had to become experts in data management in order to remain competitive. Hospices’ cost-savings potential A study published in March revealed that hospice saved Medicare roughly $3.5

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 15, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently elaborated on its plans to expand public education campaigns designed to help protect hospice beneficiaries from fraudulent actors in the space. Program integrity concerns have heated up in the hospice industry.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 17, 2023

As Jimmy Carter marks his sixth month in hospice care, the provider community is raising awareness by saluting the former president. 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.

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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

MARCH 15, 2024

Documentation errors and a fragmented health system pose the greatest risks for adverse drug events among hospices. McPherson also serves on the board of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (AAHPM). They also need to know which side effects are more concerning and should prompt a call to the hospice.”

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 1, 2024

The data come at a time when hospices are striving to better understand how to improve those groups’ end-of-life trajectories. Technology utilization has gained momentum in health care, including in hospice care delivery. It risks limiting people’s access to the health care and support they need at the end of their lives.

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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

JULY 12, 2024

The forthcoming Hospice Care Accountability, Reform and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act from U.S. Blumenauer announced the bill in June at the Hospice News Elevate conference in Washington D.C. Hospice News / Merz Photography Hospice News / Merz Photography Rep. Hospice News photo by Merz Photography.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 27, 2024

The past year has seen a slew of regulatory developments aimed at improving quality and combatting fraud in the hospice industry. The first was two July 2019 reports on hospice quality from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) in the U.S. Some individuals also hold management positions at several of these hospices simultaneously.

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Hospice News

MAY 31, 2024

Hospice and behavioral health providers can better collaborate to improve outcomes among patients with severe enduring anorexia nervosa. Jonathan Treem, regional medical director of palliative care and hospice at Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group | Kaiser Permanente. Brandt is also a professor at MU’s Department of Medicine.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 7, 2023

Strong performance on the Hospice Care Index is becoming increasingly essential to securing payer and referral contracts and will be a key consideration in the federal government’s forthcoming Special Focus Program (SFP). The Hospice Care Index can be a referral driver.

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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. “The Warner (D-Va.)

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Hospice News

AUGUST 26, 2022

Medicare reimbursement is the lifeblood of hospice providers, and a clear understanding of policies like budget neutrality can help elucidate the payment systems that keep their businesses running. For example, CMS wouldn’t cut hospital payments to increase rates for hospices. These reductions occur within each service.

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Hospice News

JUNE 28, 2024

The AIDS epidemic coincided with the birth of the hospice movement roughly four decades ago, carrying groundbreaking impacts on end-of-life care delivery for LGBTQ+ communities and beyond. In 1983, the Medicare Hospice Benefit was established. It was a scary time,” Dresang told Hospice News.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) star ratings system for hospice quality may have unintended consequences for small providers. CMS began posting star ratings for hospices on its Care Compare website last month. It’s a relatively low number,” Barnett told Hospice News. “So

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 24, 2024

Today’s hospice executives are entering the field with change in mind for improved quality. But concerns have mounted around sustainable growth strategies that will keep pace with rising demand amid myriad challenges in end-of-life care delivery. Regulatory challenges are among hospice leaders’ most significant concerns.

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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

DECEMBER 18, 2023

A revolution is needed in hospice care, complete with a new mindset, updated care models and redesigned payment systems, Dr Monisha Pujari, medical director for Longleaf Hospice, told Hospice News. Hospice News spoke with Pujari about her vision for hospice care and what it would take to make it a reality.

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Hospice News

MARCH 4, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will end the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID) as of Dec. Often called the “hospice carve-in,” the program was designed to test coverage of hospice care through Medicare Advantage, in addition to some coverage of palliative care and transitional care.

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NHPCO

MARCH 21, 2023

For Immediate Release March 22, 2023 New Research Shows Hospice Care Reduces Medicare Costs Hospice Care Contributed to $3.5 billion in savings for Medicare in 2019, while providing multiple benefits to patients, families, and caregivers. Hospice stays of six months or more result in savings for Medicare.

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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). We wish to emphasize that it is not NPHI’s position to oppose all PE associated activity in the hospice market,” the organization indicated in its comments.

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Hospice News

JULY 13, 2022

More than a dozen hospice advocacy groups have called on congressional leadership to intervene in a proposed 2.7% bump in Medicare payments, which they say is insufficient in light of COVID-19 and staffing headwinds. CMS in April released the 2023 proposed payment rule for hospice providers, including the 2.7%

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 16, 2024

Arizona-based MD Home Health has expanded its business lines to include in-clinic care, virtual care and a hospice program. MD Home Health bills its recent service diversification as an “omnichannel health care approach.” Tusa, CEO of MD Home Health, told Hospice News.

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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

FEBRUARY 9, 2023

Patients with dementia are less likely to receive hospice in their last month of life than those who have other diagnoses, 12.5% The Medicare Hospice Benefit initially was designed around the needs of cancer patients, but now the number of patients with other diagnoses is growing — some with less predictable disease patterns.

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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

JUNE 21, 2024

Bristol Hospice has acquired Mississippi-based Mid-Delta Hospice, a move that marked its entry into the state. The decision to launch services in a new state came with growing recognition around rising demand for home health and hospice care, according to Bristol Hospice CEO and President Alex Mauricio.

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