[UPDATED] Citing Competition and Consumer-Protection Concerns, CMS Makes Hospice-Ownership Data Publicly Available

In what the agency is calling an effort to promote industry competition and protect consumers, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is making hospice-ownership data publicly available. HHS is also releasing ownership data for all Medicare-certified home health agencies, the department specified in a Thursday announcement. Federal health care officials had already […]

Congresswoman Van Duyne: Hospice Licensing Should Remain with the States

Hospice licensing should remain under the authority of state governments rather than federal agencies, though lawmakers “haven’t ruled anything out” when it comes to program integrity, according to Rep. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas). The congresswoman and fellow legislator Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) last month requested a briefing from the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid […]

Hospices Welcome Expanded Chaplain Services Codes, Seek Clarity on Applicability

Hospices are seeking greater clarity on updated Medicare rules that allow hospices to document a broader range of chaplain services on claims. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) recently revised three existing items in the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS), eliminating languages that limited their use to the health care arm […]

Hospice Organizations Call for Change as Lawmakers Eye Program Integrity

Members of Congress are seeking answers from federal regulators on hospice program integrity as industry advocacy groups call for further action. Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas) and Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) led a group of lawmakers who wrote to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, administrator of the U.S Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), asking for the agency […]

How Hospice, Behavioral Health May Cross Paths

Hospice and behavioral health care could increasingly intersect in coming years as demand for specialized care grows. In some respects, the two sectors are already inextricably linked, given the holistic nature of hospice care, including attention to patients’ psychosocial and spiritual needs as well as bereavement support for families. But the prevalence of mental health […]

Hospice Advocacy Groups Call on CMS, Congress to Strengthen Program Integrity Oversight

Four national hospice and senior care industry groups have called on Congress and the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make regulatory and legislative changes to instill stronger program integrity safeguards. The organizations penned a joint letter to CMS in November urging for increased oversight to help curb hospice frauds, including the […]

Senators Ask CMS for Briefing on Hospice Fraud

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 […]

Key Trends That Will Shape the Hospice Industry in 2023

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 […]

Survey: 72% Say U.S. Health System Does Poor Job of Caring for Seniors

About 72% of respondents to a National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI) survey said they do not believe that the U.S. health care system does a good job of caring for the aging population. NPHI conducted the survey in September in collaboration with Emergence Creative and the consulting firm SIR. The research follows […]