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Palliative Care, Health Equity Growing in Medicare Advantage

Hospice News

Reimbursement for community-based palliative care is gaining ground in the Medicare Advantage realm. Palliative care is among the wide range of supplemental benefits that exist within the Medicare Advantage payment landscape. This is a rise from 180 MA plans in 2023 offering palliative services and 64 MA plans in 2020.

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Payers to CMMI: We Need a Standardized Definition for Palliative Care

Hospice News

A group of health plans, policymakers, and insurance companies recently told the Center for Medicare & Medicare Innovation (CMMI) that they needed a standardized definition for palliative care in order to improve access. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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Dynamics of Palliative Care Delivery in a Potential Medicare Benefit

Hospice News

A moving target in palliative care delivery is whether or not these services should have a dedicated benefit in the Medicare system. Most palliative care in the United States is reimbursed through fee-for-service programs, as well as Medicare Advantage, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and through Medicaid in a handful of states.

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Medicare Advantage Crackdown Could Dampen Palliative Care Growth

Hospice News

Federal regulators are cracking down on the private insurers that administer Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began giving plans more flexibility around the definition of “primarily health-related.” based research and consulting firm ATI Advisory.

Medicare 219
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How an Advance Care Planning Bill Could Impact Hospice and Medicare

Hospice News

and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced the Improving Access to Advance Care Planning Act to the Senate designed to promote greater access to those services among Medicare beneficiaries. Another is allowing the definition of eligible providers of these services. Sunsetting the co-pays could cost Medicare roughly $104.5

Medicare 292
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How Hospice and Palliative Care of the Wood River Valley Built a Collaborative Care Model Without Medicare Certification

Hospice News

After more than a decade working in hospice leadership, Alli Collins came across something she had never seen before — a financially viable, all-volunteer provider that is not Medicare-certified. I’ve spent well over a decade in the Medicare-certified side of the world. She never instituted a Medicare provider number.

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What Hospice VBID’s Ending Means for Palliative Care

Hospice News

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ value-based insurance design (VBID) model has largely been met with a sense of relief by providers as they plan new initiatives for palliative care in 2025. The process of negotiating reimbursement was often unfavorable to providers, with rates lower than fee-for-service Medicare at times.”