Posted on Monday, August 5, 2019 12:58 PM
This week, CMS issued a final rule that shows ongoing commitment to strengthening Medicare bye aligning hospice payment rates with the costs of providing care while increasing transparency allowing patients to make informed decisions.
“This final rule updates the hospice payment rates, wage index, and cap amount for fiscal year (FY) 2020. This rule finalizes rebasing of the continuous home care (CHC), general inpatient care (GIP), and the inpatient respite care (IRC) per diem payment rates in a budget-neutral manner through a small reduction to the routine home care (RHC) rates to more accurately align Medicare payments with the costs of providing care. Additionally, this rule finalizes modifications to the election statement by requiring hospices, upon request, to furnish an election statement addendum effective beginning in FY 2021. The addendum will list those items, services, and drugs the hospice has determined to be unrelated to the terminal illness and related conditions, increasing coverage transparency for beneficiaries under a hospice election. Finally, CMS will continue its work to modernize and strengthen Medicare operations through the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP).”
Click here for the full press release.
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