Home Health & Hospice Week

Medicare paid Part D plans $34 million for medications that hospices should have covered, new report says.Get ready to defend your assertion that your hospice patient's drugs aren't related to the terminal illness.In a new report, the HHS Office of Inspector General says Medicare Part D plans potentially paid $33.6 million for drugs that hospices should have covered under their Medicare per diem payment rates. The drugs include analgesics, antinausea meds, laxatives, and antianxiety drugs, as well as prescription drugs used to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).The OIG wants the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to take action on the issue. CMS should "perform oversight to ensure that Part D is not paying for drugs that Medicare has already covered under the per diem payments made to hospice organizations," the OIG urges in the report.The OIG also wants Part D plans themselves to [...]