CMS may have recently pulled back new instructions regarding hospital billing for hospice patients, but you won’t get much of a break on the matter.
CMS will reissue the instructions with a new CR “in the near future,” says the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. The new CR will have an effective date in October 2014. “This means that rejection of inpatient hospital claims that include one of the hospice diagnoses as the principal diagnosis will not begin in April as previously scheduled, but will begin in October instead,” NAHC explains.
When Medicare recoups funds from hospitals — either for current claims or for those in a three-year look-back period allowed by the CR — expect them to come knocking on your door for repayment, NAHC advises.