MedPAC to Congress: Freeze Hospice Rates in 2025

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended to Congress a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2025. In its annual report to Congress, MedPAC urged policymakers to eliminate hospice base-rate increases for 2025. “Based on the positive indicators of payment adequacy and strong margins, the Commission concludes that current payment rates are sufficient […]

MedPAC Calls for Freeze on Hospice Payment Rates

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has voted to recommend a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2025. However, the commission pulled back on prior calls for cuts to the aggregate payment cap. While MedPAC cannot implement policy or payment rate changes, it does make annual recommendations to Congress and the U.S. Centers for […]

MedPAC Calls for Hospice Payment Cap Wage Adjustment, 20% Cut

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has once again recommended a 20% cut to the aggregate cap for hospice payments. The commission also called on Congress to wage adjust the cap. MedPAC has called for similar cuts annually since 2018, but to date, Congress has not implemented these reductions. The U.S. Centers for Medicare and […]

SolutionHealth and Home Health & Hospice Care to Merge Post-Acute Operations

SolutionHealth and Home Health & Hospice Care (HHHC) are merging to expand access to post-acute care services across the southern New Hampshire communities, including hospice care. Financial terms of the transaction are yet to be determined pending satisfactory completion of final due diligence and regulatory approval. Both companies expect the affiliation to complete later this […]

MedPAC: No 2021 Pay Raise for Hospice, Calls for Payment Cap Cut

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) at its January meeting unanimously voted to recommend to Congress that no Medicare payment increases for hospices be implemented in Fiscal Year 2021, as well as a 20% reduction in the aggregate payment cap. These proposals are not a done deal. Congress would have to accept these recommendations before […]

Longer Hospice Lengths of Stay Yield Higher Margins

Patient populations who experienced longer lengths of stay boosted hospice margins by as much as 20% during 2016, according to a new report from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC). Financial data in the MEDPAC report reflects the first year of data following 2016 revisions to the Medicare payment system for hospice. The final rule […]

MEDPAC: For-Profits Account for 100 Percent of New Hospices

For-profit providers are dominating the hospice market. The number of hospice providers in the United States during 2017 rose 2.4 percent, with for-profit providers representing 100 percent of the growth, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MEDPAC) annual report to Congress. That same year, the number of non-profit hospices declined 3.5 percent. Larger numbers […]