There's some good news for home health agencies: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has decided it will pay out an extra $330 million to HHAs
next year.
CMS proposed a 2.5-percent Medicare payment-rate increase under the home-health prospective payment system for calendar year 2006, the agency announced July 8. CMS estimated CY 2006's home-health market basket at 3.3 percent.
The Medicare Modernization Act provides that the CY 2005 and CY 2006 payment updates "will equal the applicable home health market basket percentage increase minus 0.8 percentage point," CMS says.