Advanced Search

Home Health & Hospice Week

Hospice:

HIGHER HOSPICE PAYMENT RATES ARRIVE APRIL 3

Published on Fri Feb 27, 2009

Big cuts still lie ahead for industry, feds warn. Hospices should finally begin seeing payment relief based on the stimulus bill that President Obama signed last month. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and its contractors have made the necessary payment system updates and hospices will begin receiving payments without the budget neutrality adjustment factor (BNAF) cuts to wage index April 3, CMS's Lori Anderson said at the National Association for Home Care & Hospice's March on Washington meeting March 23. As required by the law, CMS has restored the hospice wage index to the level it would have been without the BNAF cut, CMS notes in March 13 Transmittal No. 1701 (CR 6418). The BNAF reduction lowered hospice payment rates by a little more than 1 percent. Cuts still planned: But hospices should remember that the delay to the 2009 portion of the BNAF reduction doesn't affect the [...]
You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:
  • Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
  • Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
  • Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
  • Instant access to every article ever published in your eNewsletter
  • 6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs*
  • The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more
*CEUs available with select eNewsletters.

Other Articles in this issue of

Home Health & Hospice Week

View All