Leaders of the U.S. Senate’s Comprehensive Care Caucus have asked federal regulators to examine program integrity within the Medicare Hospice Benefit. The four senators wrote to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, urging the agency to investigate a spate of newly licensed hospice operators in multiple states that some […]
Most hospices are sliding into 2023 between a rock and a hard place, beset by headwinds, labor shortages and questions with no easy answers. Through the cracks, providers can see glimmers of improvement. A number of hospice leaders anticipate that the industry will settle into a “new normal,” having absorbed the shock of the pandemic […]
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is poised to recommend that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reduce the aggregate cap for hospice payments by 20% in 2024. The commission has yet to vote on the recommendations, but MedPAC has called for similar cuts annually since 2018. To date, Congress has not […]
The recent article by the New Yorker and ProPublica that branded “hospice” as a profiteering “hustle” was an outrageous misrepresentation of the provider community. Starting with the headline, the story uses “hospice” as a monolithic term that makes little distinction among individual providers — heralding its overgeneralized and oversimplified perspective. In many instances information that […]
Wages for hospice aides and CNAs are rising faster than those for other interdisciplinary team members as providers seek to stem rampant turnover among those employees. The national average hourly rate for hospice aides and CNAs rose 9.09% in 2022, compared to a 4.52% increase in 2021, according to the 2022-2023 Hospice Salary & Benefits […]
While home health operators brace for the impact of the meager 2023 reimbursement rates, hospices likewise must prepare for a ripple effect. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently established a 0.7% base rate payment increase for home health care in 2023. While this is an improvement from the 4.2% aggregate cuts […]
Regulators have been keeping an increasingly close watch on hospice providers, and this may intensify in 2023. Moving into next year, hospices have a spectrum of crucial issues on their plates. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be implementing a revised compliance survey process and has convened a Technical Expert Panel […]
U.S. Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-N.V.) and John Boozman (R-Ark.) have introduced a bill that would establish a national committee to study long-term care in the United States. While private residences are the most frequently occurring location of care for hospice patients, long-term care facilities come in second, followed by assisted living facilities, according to the […]
A coalition of hospice and palliative care industry groups has urged lawmakers to make billing codes for telehealth available on Medicare hospice claim forms. The organizations called on Congress to require the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to develop and implement Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes or modifiers for telehealth […]
Hospice acquisition volumes and price tags have hit record highs for several years running. Now, the companies that performed well under the pandemic’s pressure may be drawing more interest from buyers. While a sizzling hospice market saw a cooled start this year, merger and acquisition activity is still outpacing other health care sectors. Demographic tailwinds, […]
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