Home Health & Hospice Week
Double Check Your Wage Index Code
A move to help ease provider burden with the new wage index designations will also complicate billing this year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is adopting new Office of Management and Budget categories for wage index areas, and is capping any changes in value at 5 percent in fiscal year 2021 (see HCW by AAPC, Vol. XXIX, No. 29). The problem: Due the transition methodology, “some Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs) and statewide rural areas will have more than one wage index value associated with that CBSA or rural area,” CMS says in Aug. 27 Change Request 11876. “However, each county will have only one wage index value. For counties that correspond to a different transition wage index value, the CBSA number will not be able to be used for FY 2021 claims.” Solution: “In these cases, a number other than the CBSA number will be needed to identify the appropriate wage index value for claims for hospice care provided in FY 2021,” CMS explains. “These numbers are five digits in length and begin with ’50.’” HHH Medicare Administrative Contractor CGS has listed the alternate CBSA codes at www.cgsmedicare.com/hhh/pubs/news/2020/09/cope18826.html.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Provider Relief Fund:
Big PRF Reporting Change May Mean You Have To Pay Back Funds
Where do you fall under HHS' newly issued guidance? You may not know what you [...] - Finance:
Take These 4 Steps To Get Ready For PRF Reporting
Watch out: Quickly growing agencies may be harmed by definition change. Now that the official [...] - Mergers & Acquisitions:
M&A Activity Continues Full Steam Ahead
Deals involving hospice and/or Texas prove popular in latest round. As market pressures persist and [...] - Fraud & Abuse:
OIG Slaps HHA With $1 Million Overpayment Assessment
Ambulation distance figures prominently in audit findings. The HHS Office of Inspector General is seeing [...] - COVID-19:
Keep An Eye On Accelerated Payment Relief
Extended deadline, lower interest rates are under consideration. If you have been wondering when you [...] - Industry Notes:
Hospice Assessment Tool To Debut Soon
20 hospices will alpha test the long-in-the-works HOPE tool. Medicare is one step closer to [...] - Industry Notes:
Watch Out For FFCRA-Exempt Intake Staff, Case Managers, Attorneys Caution
If you’re still wrestling with which of your staff are exempt from extended FFCRA leave [...] - Industry Notes:
Nursing Homes Must Have Reasonable Cause To Limit Visits, CMS Says
A new memo updating visitation guidelines for nursing homes may make it easier to see [...] - Industry Notes:
New Therapy Asst G Codes On Deck
Are you ready to use the new billing codes for home health therapist assistants starting [...] - Industry Notes:
Anticipate Quarterly Update Hold
It’s not some new reimbursement catastrophe if your claims don’t process at the beginning of [...] - Industry Notes:
CMS Offers Reg Relief In Oregon
Providers in Oregon are receiving regulatory relief due to the wildfires. On Sept. 16, HHS [...] - Industry Notes:
Double Check Your Wage Index Code
A move to help ease provider burden with the new wage index designations will also [...] - Industry Notes:
Hospices Need COVID-19 Test Help
If you’re having trouble securing COVID-19 testing for your employees, you’re not alone. “With COVID-19 [...]
