Posted on Monday, February 17, 2020 2:34 PM
Last week, an outline of the President’s fiscal year 2021 budget was presented to Congress. The FY2021 budget proposes to reduce spending on programs administered by CMS by $1.6 trillion over the next 10 years, including $500 billion from Medicare and $920 billion from Medicaid.
Some highlights from the budget that affect home health and hospice are below:
HOME HEALTH: Address Excessive Payment for Post-Acute Care Providers by Establishing a Unified Payment System Based on Patients’ Clinical Needs Rather than Site of Care. This proposal, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities will receive a lower annual Medicare payment update from FY 2021 to FY 2025.
HOSPICE: Modify Payment for Hospice Care Provided to Beneficiaries in Skilled Nursing and Nursing Facilities. Medicare pays hospices the same rate for routine home care provided in skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities as it does for other settings, such as private homes. This results in an overpayment to hospice providers since skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities often receive payment for this care from third-party payers, such as Medicaid. This proposal reduces Medicare payment for hospice services under the routine home care level of care when furnished in skilled nursing facilities, to account for separate Medicare and Medicaid payments already provided for personal care services in the facility.
HOSPICE AND HOME HEALTH: Enhance Quality Improvement Oversight of Post-Acute Care Facilities and Hospice Providers. Currently, if a hospice or inpatient rehabilitation facility has a severe deficiency the only action CMS can take is to remove them from Medicare. This new item would allow for CMS to impose monetary penalties, giving them more opportunity to address poor quality of care concerns.
Source: NAHC Report
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