WASHINGTON—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) released a proposed rule on home health and durable medical equipment (DME) that includes new provisions for the next implementation of the Competitive Bidding Program (CBP), the American Association for Homecare (AAHomeCare) shared in an email with its members.
WASHINGTON—Sen. Marsha Blackburn and Sen. Susan Collins submitted a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz expressing concern for the future of the Medicare home health benefit, including continued payment cuts leading to further agency closures in their communities.
DAVIE, Florida—MedBetterHealth announced it has officially partnered with Evo Care Group and its subsidiary Faith Home Health Care to deliver dementia services through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services GUIDE Model.
TEMPE, Arizona—PocketRN, a provider of virtual nursing care, and SYNERGY HomeCare, a homecare company, announced they will form a national partnership to test the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) alternative payment model designed to support people living with dementia and their family caregivers.
BALTIMORE, Maryland—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a significant expansion of its auditing efforts for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Beginning immediately, CMS will audit all eligible MA contracts for each payment year in all newly initiated audits and invest additional resources to expedite the completion of audits for payment years 2018 through 2024.
WASHINGTON—The National Alliance for Care at Home (The Alliance) submitted comments on the proposed Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contract year 2026 policy and technical changes to Medicare Advantage (MA) programs.
BRONX, New York—Essen Health Care, a New York-based medical services provider, announced it has been selected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to participate in the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) model, a new Medicare alternative payment model.
HOUSTON–Hospice providers and several state associations filed a lawsuit Thursday, Jan. 16, against the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to block the implementation of the Special Focus Program (SFP).
BALTIMORE—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its calendar year (CY) 2026 advance notice for the Medicare Advantage (MA) and the Medicare Part D prescription drug programs, which would update payment policies for these programs.
BALTIMORE—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the list of the 50 hospice companies selected for participation in the 2025 Hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). The SFP program, which will be led by the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality, aims to improve hospice quality through increased health and safety oversights.
ARLINGTON, Virginia—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) adjustment updates for calendar year (CY) 2025 durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) fee schedules, the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) released in a recent newsletter to members.
WASHINGTON—A group of U.S. senators have written a letter expressing concern about “deep financial ties” the potential head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Centers (CMS), Mehmet Oz, has with Medicare Advantage. The letter was written by multiple democratic senators, including Sen.
DALLAS—Axxess, a global technology platform for health care at home, announced its keynote speaker for its upcoming Axxess Growth, Innovation and Leadership Experience (AGILE) conference, as well as a new hospice outcomes and patient evaluation (HOPE) workshop and early bird pricing for AGILE 2025. The conference will be held Monday, May 5 through Wednesday, May 7, 2025, in Dallas, Texas.
WASHINGTON—LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit providers of aging services, released a statement from its president and CEO, Katie Smith Sloan, regarding on the recently released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) contract year (CY) 2026 Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D proposed rule. The full statement by Sloan is detailed below.
WASHINGTON—President-elect Donald Trump announced his nomination of Mehmet Oz, physician, surgeon, former television host and founder of the nonprofit health education company HealthCorps, as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
WASHINGTON—The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit to determine whether Medicare Part B properly paid for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies to hospice enrollees from the time period of 2017 through 2021. This audit took place in order to follow up on a prior OIG audit, which found Medicare Part B improperly paid suppliers for such supplies.
NASHVILLE, Tennessee—HarmonyCares, a provider of value-based in-home care, announced that its Medicare care coordination company, HarmonyCares ACO LLC, achieved a net savings rate of 23% in its first performance year (2023) as an accountable care organization realizing equity, access and community health (ACO REACH) participant.
WASHINGTON—Last month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented a fix that will impact suppliers who provide disposable medical supplies to Medicare beneficiaries, the American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) wrote in a recent newsletter to members. This fix aims to lay the groundwork for ongoing engagement with CMS in order to address denials triggered by unknown Part A episodes.
WASHINGTON—The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reviewed Medicare Advantage (MA) companies’ use of health risk assessments (HRAs), which often increase payments to MA plans by billions of dollars. As a result of the review, OIG offered suggestions to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
WASHINGTON—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Patrick Newbold has been appointed chief information officer (CIO), as reported by Federal News Network. After the addition of Newbold, the U.S.
BALTIMORE, Maryland—The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its 2025 premiums, deductibles and coinsurance amounts for the Medicare Part A and Part B programs, as well as its 2025 Medicare Part D income-related monthly adjustment amounts.
CMS’ 2025 updates to Medicare Parts A, B and D amounts are listed below.
