Home Health & Hospice Week

Recommendation 1: The Congress should eliminate the market basket update for 2011 and direct the Secretary to rebase rates for home health care services to reflect the average cost of providing care.

Recommendation 2A: The Congress should direct the Secretary to expeditiously modify the home health payment system to protect beneficiaries from stinting or lower quality of care in response to rebasing. The approaches considered should include risk corridors and blended payments that mix prospective payment with elements of cost-based reimbursement.

Recommendation 2B: The Secretary should identify categories of patients who are likely to receive the greatest clinical benefit from home health and develop outcomes measures which measure the quality of care for each category of patient.

Recommendation 3: The Congress should direct the Secretary to review home health agencies that exhibit unusual patterns of claims for payment. The Congress should provide the authority to the Secretary to implement safeguards, such as a moratorium on new providers, preauthorization, or suspension of prompt payment requirements, in areas that appear to be high risk.

Recommendation: The Congress should update the payment rates for hospice for 2011 by the projected rate of increase in the hospital market basket index less the Commission's adjustment for productivity growth.