Home Health & Hospice Week

Do HHAs stand a chance against PDGM?

The home health industry has bombarded Medicare with comments on the proposed payment rule for next year.

The comment period for the Home Health Prospective Payment System proposal, which contained the very controversial Patient-Driven Groupings Model payment reform plan, closed Aug. 31 with 1,185 comments received, according to regulations. gov. That compares to 1,350 comments on last year’s 2018 rule containing the much-hated Home Health Groupings Model payment reform proposal with its $1 billion reimbursement cut; 89 commenters on the 2017 rule; 120 commenters on the 2016 rule; and 364 commenters on the 2015 rule.

As with last year’s rule, the vast majority of commenters take aim at PDGM.

With the comment period officially closed, home health agencies can expect the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to issue the final rule on its usual timeline of late October to early November. And with PDGM’s budget neutral status, HHAs that oppose the reform plan probably can’t count on a last-minute withdrawal such as what happened with HHGM last year, observers predict.