Eli's Hospice Insider

Plus: Cap amount for 2014 released.

The annual wage index gamble for hospices has wrapped up, with hospice providers in West Virginia, Maryland and Indiana coming out ahead while providers in Pennsylvania and South Dakota are hit hardest by the index fluctuations.

Core Based Statistical Areas that will see the biggest wage index increases in 2014 are Cumberland, W.Va. and Md., with a 12 percent increase to 0.8999 and Muncie, Ind., with an 11 percent increase to 0.8895, notes the National Association for Home Care & Hospice in its rule analysis.

CBSAs that will see the biggest wage index losses are Sioux Falls, S.D., with a 10 percent reduction to 0.8492 and Johnstown, Pa., with an 8 percent decrease to 0.8266. A link to the wage index is at www.cms.gov/Center/Provider-Type/Hospice-Center.html.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services also has released the cap for the fiscal year ending Oct. 1, 2013 and it is $26,157.50, CMS says in Aug. 16 CR 8416. The payment rate tables showing 2014’s 1.7 percent rate increase, which CMS included in the final rule (see chart, above), also appear in the CR.

The CR is at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/Hospice/Downloads/Transmittal-2766.pdf.