Home Health & Hospice Week

New notices, P&Ps, training are all on the horizon.

You may find you have a laundry list of new duties under a newly finalized Medicare regulation.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published the Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities final rule in the May 6 Federal Register. CMS first proposed the rule back in September 2023 (see HHHW by AAPC, Vol. XXXII, No. 33).

Among other things, the rule will require new notices, policies and procedures, and training, experts point out.

The rule “is a giant step forward for this country toward a more equitable and inclusive health care system, and means that Americans across the country now have a clear way to act on their rights against discrimination when they go to the doctor, talk with their health plan, or engage with health programs run by HHS,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra says in a release about the rule.

The rule “is another important step toward our goal of health equity,” CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure says in the release.

The 182-page rule is at www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2024-05-06/pdf/2024-08711.pdf and the fact sheet is at www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/section-1557/1557-fact-sheet/index.html.