Home Health & Hospice Week

Hospices with lots of nursing home patients are suspicious, new OIG report says. You may have to think long and hard about furnishing hospice services to nursing home patients if a new recommendation by the OIG gets adopted. In a new report, the HHS Office of Inspector General calls for lawmakers and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to cut payments to hospices for patients that reside in nursing homes. "The current payment structure provides incentives for hospices to seek out beneficiaries in nursing facilities, who often receive longer but less complexcare," the OIG says. "To lessen this incentive, CMS should reduce Medicare payments for hospice care provided in nursing facilities, seeking statutory authority, if necessary." Hospices and nursing homes may be providing duplicative services, the OIG implies. "Unlike private homes, nursing facilities are staffed with professional caregivers and are often paid by third-party payers, such as Medicaid," the [...]