Home Health & Hospice Week
MedPAC Finalizes Recommendations For HH, Hospice Cuts
Commission increases profit margin estimate based on sequestration change. As expected, on Jan. 14 Medicare Payment Advisory Commission members finalized approval of the home health and hospice cuts they passed in their December meeting. Home health: The commissioners unanimously approved the recommendation to Congress to cut the home health base rate by 5 percent in 2022. In the December meeting, commissioners discussed the value of home health for preventing patients’ costly facility stays, but still agreed that high profit margins mean cuts are needed (see HCW by AAPC, Vol. XXIX, No. 44). MedPAC says home health agencies averaged a 15.8 percent Medicare profit margin in 2019 and predicts a 14 percent margin in 2021. Hospice: The commissioners also unanimously approved the recommendation to Congress to freeze hospice rates and cut the hospice aggregate cap by 20 percent in 2022. MedPAC actually bumped up its hospice profit margin figure for 2021 “from 12 to 13 percent, because of the recent legislation suspending the sequester for three additional months,” said MedPAC staffer Kim Neuman in the Jan. 14 meeting. Hospices had a 12.4 percent margin in 2018, the commission estimates. Bad idea: “Whether MedPAC believes it or not, reducing the cap will, in fact, reduce access to hospice services,” protests consulting firm The Health Group in Morgantown, West Virginia. “A reduction to the cap, especially at such a significant percentage, would surely impact hospice admissions for patients with a non-cancer diagnosis, where the estimate of the life expectancy is more difficult,” The Health Group says in its electronic newsletter. “In our opinion, some consideration of wage adjusting the cap, with certain protections for those significantly impacted, makes sense,” The Health Group allows. “However, an overall 20 percent reduction to the cap to merely save money for the Medicare program is an inappropriate attempt to penalize those providers who serve long-term patients. The appropriateness of long-term patients for hospice care should be a focus of admissions and claims review, not a general payment reduction in the cap,” the consulting firm maintains. These recommendations will appear in MedPAC’s annual March report to Congress.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Covid-19:
Hold Off On Provider Relief Fund Portal Registration
Erase Feb. 15 due date from your calendar. The Department of Health and Human Services [...] - Finance:
Know Your Provider Relief Fund Lost Revenue Options
Don’t hang yourself with the rope HHS is giving you. Whether you get to keep [...] - Policy:
Vaccination Should Be Top Biden Administration Priority
Neglecting vaccination of home care workers is dangerous, reps warn. Home health and hospice workers [...] - Reimbursement:
MedPAC Finalizes Recommendations For HH, Hospice Cuts
Commission increases profit margin estimate based on sequestration change. As expected, on Jan. 14 Medicare [...] - Labor Law:
Heed New DOL Opinion Letters, Settlement
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Longtime CMS Staffer Steps Into Acting Administrator Role
New agency head has a hospital background. With the turnover of presidents comes the turnover [...] - Industry Notes:
1-Page PPP Forgiveness Form Is Out.
Paycheck Protection Act borrowers were happy to welcome the eagerly awaited simplified loan forgiveness form [...] - Industry Notes:
Some Providers Offer Staff Cash To Get Vaccinated
Health care providers struggling with gaining staff buy-in for COVID-19 vaccinations may want to borrow [...] - Industry Notes:
CERT Audit List Is No Good, CMS Says
A federal watchdog agency is serving up a list of problematic providers to audit on [...] - Industry Notes:
HHAs Save Medicare Money On Wound Care Patients
Since Medicare began paying long-term care hospitals less for patients requiring severe wound care, those [...] - Industry Notes:
Suit: NH Residents Need Home Care
A new lawsuit aims to get New Hampshire residents out of institutions and into home [...] - Industry Notes:
Report HQRP Data — Or Else
Don’t forget: Jan. 1 started the Hospice Quality Reporting Program data collection that runs through [...] - Industry Notes:
Surveyors Have New IC Tool
Check out the updated tool surveyors will use to assess your agency for an infection [...] - Industry Notes:
SNF Consolidated Billing No Barrier To Vaccinations
If you are set up to vaccinate patients against COVID-19, you don’t have to worry [...]
