Greater transparency in staff evaluation processes and increased education will be keys to navigating a range of hospice compliance challenges in a post-pandemic landscape. Since the COVID outbreak struck, hospices have contended with changes in regulatory requirements around telehealth utilization, emergency preparedness and infection control and prevention. Ramped up auditing activities and program integrity oversight […]
The U.S. 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. The requirement mirrors a regulation that has existed for several years for home health agencies. The final rule forbids […]
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. Lawmakers have introduced a series of bipartisan bills designed to relieve workforce […]
As audits proliferate in the hospice space, providers can benefit from understanding the appeals process. Hospices are increasingly wading through an alphabet soup of auditing activity in the industry. Auditing types anticipated to ramp up in hospice include Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) audits conducted by Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACS) and others involving Unified Program […]
Recent regulatory moves aimed at greater transparency and consistency in the structure of joint venture valuations may impact how hospices approach these partnerships. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) recently introduced a new rule that will require newly formed joint ventures (JVs) to disclose the net value of each participating asset at the onset of […]
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. Hospice providers are hitting financial and regulatory walls when it comes to sufficiently covering the spectrum of services necessary to care for patients and families, according […]
Four members of Congress led by Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon) have called for changes to the forthcoming Special Focus Program (SFP) from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) were also signatories on the letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and […]
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington) have called on the U.S. Justice Department (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to “scrutinize” the pending acquisition of Amedisys (NASDAQ: AMED) by Optum Health. Optum, a subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UHN), in June penned its agreement to acquire Amedisys in an all-cash transaction […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has been gradually implementing changes to the hospice survey process and enforcement remedies, including civil monetary penalties in some instances. Congress approved the survey changes and enforcement actions through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, which incorporated language from the Helping Our Senior Population in Comfort […]
While many in the hospice space agree that evolution is needed to help ensure quality end-of-life care outcomes, conflicting views swirl around how regulatory requirements and associated processes could get us there. Regulators and hospice providers share a common goal of ensuring quality end-of-life care experiences. But points diverge when it comes to molding the […]
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