Home Health & Hospice Week
HHGM Bill Disappoints
A new bill to delay the Home Health Groupings Model may not be all home health agencies were hoping for. On one hand: The Rural Home Health Extension and Regulatory Relief Act (H.R. 3992) introduced by Rep. Kristi Noem (R-South Dakota) would delay HHGM’s implementation for one year, until 2020; would “increase payment amounts” by 1.5 percent in 2020, 1.0 percent in 2021, and 0.5 percent in 2022; would “reduce the aggregate amount of savings under the home health groupings model compared to the estimated impacts in the 2018 Home Health Proposed Rule” by reducing “2020 amounts by 3.7 percent;” and would extend the 3 percent rural add-on until 2023, according to the bill. On the other hand: The bill would keep HHGM’s 30-day payment structure and would make clear CMS “shall make assumptions about provider behavioral change that could occur as a result of implementation of the home health groupings model such as for changes in the number of service units and changes in diagnosis codes billed” (although it does require CMS to describe the assumptions via rulemaking).
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Prospective Payment System:
Proposed HHGM Changes Stir Up Therapists
CMS expects agencies providing more therapy visits to see bigger pay cuts under pay reform. [...] - Payment:
HHGM Bell Tolls For Therapy-Intensive HHAs
It’s not just your imagination — Medicare is out to cut therapy reimbursement with the [...] - Therapy:
The Gaming Will Go On
Eliminating therapy from case mix won’t fix what ails it, commenters say. The Centers for [...] - Reimbursement:
$1 Billion Payment Cut Will Not Improve Home Health Care
Get your act together on case mix, commenters tell CMS. To eliminate therapy as a [...] - PPS:
Payment Reform Must Be Budget-Neutral
One of the most important tenets of a viable payment reform model is that it [...] - OASIS:
OASIS Edit Will Return — Not Deny — Claims, For Now
Take 3 steps to resolve 37253 problems. The OASIS edit that took effect in April [...] - Industry Note:
CMS Slows Implementation Of Cross-Setting Measures
These IMPACT Act elements shouldn’t impact you in 2018. You’ll have one less thing to [...] - Industry Note:
HHGM Bill Disappoints
A new bill to delay the Home Health Groupings Model may not be all home [...] - Industry Note:
Toe The Sequential Billing Line, MAC Warns
Failing to follow sequential billing rules for hospice is not only cash flow-draining, it’s also [...] - Industry Note:
Mass. Agency Owner Arrested For Fraud
The owner of Worcester, Massachusettsbased Lifestream Healthcare Alliance has been arrested on Medicaid fraud charges [...] - Industry Note:
Don't Include Patient Names On Hospice Adjustment List
If you want to take advantage of easier hospice billing corrections for Routine Home Care [...] - Industry Note:
Hospital Closes Agency
Another hospital-based home health agency has closed. Wallowa Memorial Hospital in Enterprise, Oregon, shuttered its [...] - Industry Note:
Hurricane Scams A Threat
Con artists always know to strike when the irons are hot. And in the midst [...]
