Citing a need for further testing, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will not release Hospice Compare data on hospice visits during the last seven days of life as expected this summer. CMS uses Hospice Compare to publicly report hospice provider performance on quality measures.Referring organizations such as hospitals and nursing homes, […]
More patients than ever are seeking hospice and palliative care, and the industry may not have enough trained clinicians to take care of them. To help fill this gap, Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-NY) and 285 bipartisan co-sponsors have reintroduced the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (H.R. 647) in the House of […]
Medicare made an estimated $2.1 billion in improper fee-for-service payments to hospices during fiscal year 2018, with more than half occurring due to documentation errors, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported. The GAO investigation focused solely on fee-for-service payments and did not examine Medicare’s managed care or outpatient prescription drug programs. Though the overall report […]
Gov. Jim Justice has signed legislation that could impact the future of hospice care in West Virginia. State Senate Bill 537 establishes a workgroup to review certificate of need regulations that could prevent new hospice providers from opening in the state. A major consideration is the question of thresholds for permitting additional hospice providers in […]
Under a new Ohio law , hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, nursing homes, and other health care organizations in Ohio must develop systems to identify patients or residents who are in need of palliative care and inform them about the benefits and availability of those services. Other provisions in the law allow inpatient hospice providers to […]
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin signed into law legislation to expand awareness and utilization of palliative care throughout the state. Kentucky Senate Bill 65 will establish a Palliative Care Interdisciplinary Advisory Council as well as a Professional Information and Education Program by July 2020. “I’m thrilled that SB 65 has finally passed,” the bill’s sponsor, State […]
Enrolling patients in hospice earlier in the course of their terminal illness can reduce Medicare costs by $316 million to $2.43 billion, depending on length of stay and characteristics of the patient population, according to a recent policy brief from the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). About 60 percent of Medicare decedents stay […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will presume that private residences in which Medicaid recipients receive hospice care and certain other services are in compliance with regulatory criteria for home- and community-based settings. In a letter to state Medicaid directors CMS Administrator Seema Verma issued new regulatory guidance on how CMS will […]
Despite the legitimate anxieties of many hospice providers about the Medicare Advantage carve-in demonstration in 2021, some have expressed cautious optimism. “The success of Medicare Advantage in achieving better health outcomes for American seniors and people with disabilities highlights the importance of an integrated system,” Allyson Schwartz, president and CEO of the Better Medicare Alliance […]
Hospice providers have many questions and few answers related to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) demonstration of a hospice carve-in for Medicare Advantage plans. CMS earlier this year announced that it would test coverage of the hospice benefit through Medicare Advantage plans beginning in 2012. Through Medicare Advantage, CMS contracts with […]