The Intersections Between Hospice and Palliative Care

Hospice care and palliative care services have similar, but diverging, threads across the care continuum.  An area of increasing overlap centers around patient consultations discussing symptom management and goals of care. Supportive care for patients and families is a common thread in both hospice and palliative care, with providers touching different points along a patients’ […]

Hospice Leaders: Change Must Come to the Medicare Benefit

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 […]

‘Work to Be Done’ in Shaping Hospice Quality, Program Integrity

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 […]

Building a Palliative Care-Focused ACO

Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) represent a growing opportunity for palliative care companies, and providers have a number of ways to get in on the ground floor. Along with Medicare Advantage, ACOs are one of the few avenues towards more robust reimbursement than fee-for-service models. Operators can come to ACOs by two main avenues. For one, […]

New Jersey Advancing Bill for Palliative Care Medicaid Coverage

A New Jersey state bill that would establish community-based palliative care coverage is advancing in the state’s legislature. The engine behind the bill has been advocacy work by the Goals of Care Coalition of NJ (GOCCNJ), whose lobbying efforts moved state Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, chair of the Assembly Aging & Senior Services Committee, to introduce […]

The Hot Take: Empassion Health’s Nicole McCann-Davis Discusses Health Equity Issues Percolating in Palliative Care

Palliative care providers have a limited window into the disparities plaguing underserved populations when it comes to access and awareness of their serious illness care options, according to Nicole McCann-Davis, vice president of communications and chief health equity officer at Empassion Health. Palliative Care News recently sat down with McCann-Davis to discuss the scope of […]

Senators Propose Bills to Expand Hospice Training, Ensure Access to Transfusions

Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) recently re-introduced legislation designed to expand the palliative care workforce. The two lawmakers, along with others, also brought forth a second bill designed to ensure that hospice patients who need blood transfusions can receive them. The bipartisan-supported Provider Training in Palliative Care Act aims to increase the […]

More States Integrating Palliative Care Into Medicaid Programs

The channels for palliative care payment may be widening as more state legislators recognize growing demand for these services and start to weave them into Medicaid reimbursement. More than 15 states have rolled out bills to direct Medicaid agencies and other state authorities to research the ability to implement a dedicated palliative care benefit or […]

Advance Care Planning Billing Rules Impede Equitable Access

Current advance care planning reimbursement structures are limiting utilization and access of these services, particularly among communities of color. The payment barriers blocking more equitable advance care planning are two-fold, existing on both the health care provider and patient sides. On the patient side, Medicare beneficiaries face out-of-pocket costs when advance care planning is performed […]

OIG Estimates $42 Million in Improper Medicare Payments for Advance Care Planning

A significant number of health care providers may not understand federal rules for billing advance care planning, contributing to an estimated $42.3 million in improper payments in 2019. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently reported the results of its audit of advance care planning (ACP) billing […]