WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 3, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) announced that the next state to participate in the Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) is Texas and it will begin on Dec. 2, 2019. CMS also indicated that implementation of RCD in the remaining states of North Carolina and Florida is expected to begin on March 30, 2020, as CMS is pausing implementation to allow for the transition to PDGM which begins on Jan. 1, 2020.
NAHC
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (October 2, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a long-awaited discharge planning final rule for hospitals, critical access hospitals and home health agencies. The proposed rule was posted in November 2015, and has taken almost four years to reach the final version. It will be effective Nov. 29, 2019.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 27, 2019)—Recently the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit issued findings in a closely-watched whistleblower case from Alabama (United States of America versus AseraCare, Inc.) initially brought in 2008 that was vigorously pursued by the Department of Justice under the federal False Claims Act.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 23, 2019)—The House of Representatives Veterans Affairs committee held a hearing on September 11 on H.R. 1527, the Long-Term Care Veterans Choice Act, a bill to expand access to homecare for veterans and help keep them out of institutional settings.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 17, 2019)—The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) submitted comments on the 2020 home health prospective payment system rate update proposed rule.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 13, 2019)—The Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently released a report pertaining to home health agencies (HHA), “The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Could Use Comprehensive Error Rate Testing Data To Identify High-Risk Home Health Agencies.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 5, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that strengthens the agency's ability to stop fraud before it happens by keeping unscrupulous providers out of federal health insurance programs. The rule has been under consideration for more than three years, according to the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC).
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 27, 2019)—The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) has the half-way point of the association’s Summer Advocacy Campaign. The association is asking members and providers to stretch your social media muscles and make some noise with your representatives digitally; encouraging the connections in your online circles to do the same.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 9, 2019)—The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, signed into law last week by President Donald Trump, includes an extension of the Medicare sequestration cuts for an additional two years. This across the board cut of 2% applies to all Medicare provider payments.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 2, 2019)—On Wednesday, July 31, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted its final disposition of the FY2020 payment rule titled, “Medicare Program; FY 2020 Hospice Wage Index and Payment rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Requirements”. The rule is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Aug.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 2, 2019)—On Wednesday, July 31, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted its final disposition of the FY2020 payment rule titled, “Medicare Program; FY 2020 Hospice Wage Index and Payment rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Requirements”. The rule is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on Aug.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 26, 2019)—In the 2020 home health prospective payment system (HHPPS) rate update proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposes a number changes to the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HHQRP) for calendar year (CY) 2022.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 19, 2019)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it will reject claims submitted with the Health Insurance Claim Number, with very few exceptions, starting Jan. 1, 2020. All eligibility transactions using the Health Insurance Claim Number will be rejected after that date, with no exceptions. Providers must use the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI).
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (July 9, 2019)—More than 80% of Medicare-reimbursed hospice agencies were cited with a deficiency between 2012 and 2016, according to a new report issued by the U.S. Office of Health and Human Services (HHS); in 2016, 300--or 18% of all hospices in the country--had serious problems or complaints.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 20, 2019)—New bipartisan legislation has been introduced in both the United States Senate and House of Representatives that would grant occupational therapists the authority to open home health cases. Under current law, only nurses, physical therapists and speech language pathologists can open a home health case by performing the patient assessment.
Birmingham, Alabama (June 7, 2019)—About a third of providers don't expect the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) to change their therapy utilization, according to a survey conducted by the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) recently concluded a survey of the home health industry on the subject; another quarter of respondents to the survey said they expect a decrease of 10% or more.
WASHINGTON D.C. (May 29, 2019)—The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) has joined with like-minded organizations to urge Congress to permanently and fully fund Medicare outreach and enrollment for low-income beneficiaries.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (May 9, 2019)—On Wednesday, May 8, a bill to prevent the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) rate cuts was introduced in the House of Representatives, an important priority for the home health community and something advocates from the National Association of Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) have been working on.
3 major Q2 updates changing provider behavior
WASHINTON, D.C. (April 23, 2019)—The National Association of Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) is currently evaluating possible impacts of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) on the provision of therapy services. While PDGM is based on 2017 data that reflects the volume of therapy services provided during that year, the payment rate for therapy-oriented patient episodes will be lower than the current rate for the same patients as a result of CMS using different visit cost data.