Home Health & Hospice Week

Watch your snail mail for information about the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in.

Medicare Advantage Organizations that are participating in the Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model that includes hospice care are supposed to “communicate with hospice providers in the service area of their participating plans,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says in Nov. 13 CR 12045. They will send hard copy notifications next month.

Double duty: “Hospice providers must submit claims and notices to participating MA plans to receive payment when their enrollees elect to receive hospice care,” the transmittal instructs. “Hospice providers must submit claims and notices to their Medicare contractor for informational purposes” as well, CMS adds.

In addition to the MAOs mailing letters directly, MAOs and Medicare Administrative Contractors also will post the information on their websites, CMS says in the transmittal at www.cms.gov/files/document/r10458otn.pdf.