Posted on Friday, March 27, 2015 8:54 AM
Yesterday, a majority passed Medicare legislation that reforms the physician payment formula also known as the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR). H.R. 2 will now go to the Senate where it is expected to pass. The bill includes the previously reported provisions that affect home health and hospice services:
- The annual payment rate update (Market Basket Index) is set at 1% in 2018. This represents an estimated 1 point reduction from what would otherwise be the update
- A two year extension of the home health rural add-on at 3%. Under the bill, the add-on would expire with episodes beginning January 1, 2018 and later.
- Modification of the home health surety bond requirements setting the bond minimum at $50,000 and allowing Medicare to scale the bond value up commensurate with the volume of Medicare revenue in the home health agency.
The Medicare beneficiary changes do not include a home health copay. The bill “would institute a permanent fix in the physician payment methodology” which is good news for Medicare providers as there have been 17 previous “patches” that were financed by cutting provider payment rates. Click here to read more.
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