Home Health & Hospice Week

CMS has given state Medicaid programs their marching orders about furnishing hospice to children while still covering curative treatment, and the new requirements are likely to increase your hospice business. In a Sept. 9 letter, CMS tells state Medicaid program directors that the health care reform law enacted earlier this year requires them to cover both hospice services and curative treatment for kids. Medicaid programs are not required to offer the hospice benefit at all, the letter points out. But if they do, states now must cover hospice in addition to other medically necessary treatments for children. "We believe implementation of this new provision is vitally important for children and their families seeking a blended package of curative and palliative services," says the letter. "This provision will increase utilization of hospice services since parents and children will no longer be required to forego curative treatment." The letter is at