Home Health & Hospice Week

Good news, bad news in the fiscal cliff fix.

Although hospitals and certain other Medicare providers will ache from reduced payments, home health agencies and hospices were spared -- at least for now.

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which President Obama signed into law to prevent the "fiscal cliff" disaster, delays for two months the "doc fix," reports the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. Physician Medicare payments won’t experience any changes at least until March 2013. The bill also delayed the 2-percent cut in Medicare payments and other changes in the spending sequester. Originally scheduled to start on Feb. 1, the bill delays the sequester until April 1.

What’s still unclear is how the 2-percent Medicare sequester will apply to HHAs, in terms of whether it applies to claims submitted, claims paid or service dates on or after April 1, NAHC says.

The two-month delay on nixing the physician fix is not expected to become permanent. And this mini-extension of current physician Medicare payments will come out of hospital pay and payments to other Medicare providers, but not HHAs and hospices. "Although significant challenges lay ahead, the fact that home health care and hospice were spared from any cuts to pay for the physician fix is cause for celebration," NAHC states.