Hospice News

JANUARY 25, 2024

National hospice utilization rates have fallen since 2020, though the total number of patients served remains consistent. The aging population continues to increase, so even as the percentage of patients served decreases, the total number of patients served increases,” Ware told Hospice News. In 2021, 1.71 About 47.3%

Hospice 270

Hospice 2020 2021 Medicare 270

Hospice News

MARCH 15, 2024

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has recommended to Congress a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2025. In its annual report to Congress, MedPAC urged policymakers to eliminate hospice base-rate increases for 2025. The 2021 aggregated Medicare hospice margin was 13.3%, according to MedPAC.

2025 226

2025 2002 Hospice 2024 226

Hospice News

OCTOBER 13, 2023

Implementation of the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in has been challenging for both payers and providers, though a recent analysis indicates that it may get easier over time. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) commissioned the RAND Corp. CMS launched the carve-in in 2021.

Hospice 284

Hospice 2021 Medicare 2022 284

Hospice News

MARCH 4, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will end the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID) as of Dec. Often called the “hospice carve-in,” the program was designed to test coverage of hospice care through Medicare Advantage, in addition to some coverage of palliative care and transitional care.

2024 331

2024 Hospice Medicare Demo 331

Hospice News

JANUARY 12, 2024

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has voted to recommend a freeze on hospice payment increases starting in 2025. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The 2021 aggregated Medicare hospice margin was 13.3%, according to MedPAC.

2025 278

2025 Hospice Medicare 2024 278

Hospice News

MARCH 21, 2024

Members of Congress are raising questions about the continued Medicare certification for new hospices in areas rife with fraud. Some of these providers engaged in referral kickback schemes, enrolled patients who were not eligible for hospice and lied to them about being terminally ill. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.)

2010 264

2010 Hospice Medicare 2024 264

Hospice News

JUNE 14, 2023

Meanwhile, Medicare hospice spending is expected to more than double by 2032. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary also project that health care expenditures will represent 19.6% The report, published today in Health Affairs , did not contain hospice-specific data.

Medicare 260

Medicare Hospice 2022 2021 260

Hospice News

MARCH 14, 2024

In Calendar Year 2021, the share of hospice care days with nurse visits in the last seven days of life rose to 63%, up from 62% year over year, according to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO). Social worker visits in the last days of life also rose to 9% in 2021, up from 7% in 2020.

Social worker 290

Social worker Hospice Registered Nurse 2017 290

Hospice News

APRIL 8, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2025 proposed hospice rule contained requests for information (RFIs) that could signal changes in the agency’s thinking on key issues. Through RFIs, CMS tries to take the pulse of providers’ positions on certain questions that could impact the Medicare Hospice Benefit.

2025 282

2025 Hospice Palliative care Medicare 282

Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 27, 2023

Health plan participation in the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID) will fall in 2024. For calendar year 2024, 13 Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) will participate in the program’s hospice component, providing coverage through 78 health plans in 19 states. million in 2023.

2024 287

2024 Medicare Hospice 2030 287

Hospice News

MARCH 23, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is extending the value-based insurance design demonstration for calendar years 2025 to 2030, including the hospice component. The hospice component of VBID, also called the MA carve-in, launched in 2021 and was originally slated to complete after four years.

2030 316

2030 2025 Demo Hospice 316

Hospice News

MAY 25, 2023

Massachusetts-based Advanced Home Care has acquired Dignity Hospice Care for an undisclosed amount. The transaction follows Advanced Home Care’s acquisition of Dignity Home Care late last year. The buyer company’s CEO Art Kalenjian will now take the helm at Dignity Hospice. Census Bureau projections.

Home care 255

Home care Hospice 2030 2012 255

Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Over time, Medicare Advantage plans will likely have a greater presence as hospice payers, and now is the time for providers to build relationships those organizations. Originally slated to end in 2024, CMS recently extended the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID) to 2023. SCAN is a $4.3

2026 277

2026 Hospice Demo 2024 277

Hospice News

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized its 2024 home health rule, including the implementation of a hospice Special Focus Program (SFP). The rule also finalizes the proposed “36-month”rule for hospice providers. As a community, we are profoundly disappointed with this decision.”

Hospice 311

Hospice Medicare 2024 2019 311

Hospice News

AUGUST 21, 2023

Evolving network adequacy requirements within the value-based insurance design (VBID) model demonstration have some hospices concerned that Medicare Advantage payers may have narrowed views on reimbursement and access. And that’s a big concern when it comes to hospice care.” This year the U.S.

Hospice 241

Hospice Medicare Hospice care 2021 241

Hospice News

APRIL 26, 2023

. “Our new Manhattan branch will headquarter more local staff within the communities they are already serving, allowing us to increase access and convenience to hospice care where there is great need.” A little more than 31,000 Medicare patients in Kansas elected hospice in 2021, according to the U.S.

2022 246

2022 2021 Medicare Hospice 246

Hospice News

MARCH 13, 2023

OIG alleged in a recent report that Summit Hospice violated the False Claims Act (FCA) by submitting claims to Medicare and Medicaid for non-covered hospice services. HHS-OIG will continue to work with our federal and state partners to ensure that hospice providers are giving their patients the care and comfort they need.”

Hospice 236

Hospice 2018 2021 Medicare 236

Hospice News

APRIL 21, 2023

Croix Hospice cares for over 4,000 patients from more than 60 locations in 10 Midwestern states. “Health care providers have been closing their doors across rural America, and Iowa is no exception,” Kim Kirschbaum, St. .” Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). All told St. Census Bureau reported.

2019 237

2019 2021 Medicare Hospice care 237

Hospice News

JUNE 2, 2023

Hosparus Health Hosparus Health Hosparus CEO David Cook Baptist Health Deaconess Hospice launched in 1993, initially branded as Green River Hospice. In 2021, more than 22,000 Medicare decedents elected hospice care in Kentucky. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Hospice 225

Hospice Bereavement Medicare Grief 225

Hospice News

JUNE 22, 2023

SEIU analyzed Medicare claims data showing that the average hospice transfer rate among HCA hospital discharges was nearly 40% above the national average in 2021 and represented a 50% growth rate over four years. During the past several years, HCA has closed a number of home health and hospice acquisitions. More than 1.72

Healthcare 257

Healthcare Hospice Medicare 2021 257

Hospice News

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

With these two centers, Big Bend is the only operator of inpatient hospice care in the eight counties it serves. Hospice utilization in the Sunshine State runs high. More than 154,500 people received hospice in Florida in 2021, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Hospice 246

Hospice 2030 End-of-life care 2021 246

Hospice News

DECEMBER 9, 2022

The hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) model will begin its third year on Jan. Often called the MA hospice carve-in , the voluntary demonstration is designed to assess payer and provider performance related to hospice within Medicare Advantage (MA). We need to be in-network.”.

2023 263

2023 Hospice Demo 2021 263

Hospice News

JUNE 9, 2023

Increasingly, both policymakers and providers are seeing potential opportunities to reform the Medicare Hospice Benefit, including the prospect of concurrent care. Driving these conversations is the need to lighten the nation’s heavy health care spend, which in 2021 reached $4.3 told Hospice News. “If

Hospice 246

Hospice Medicare Palliative care 2021 246

Hospice News

JULY 17, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is conducting a small pilot program for post-payment reviews of hospice stays that exceed 90 days. CMS internal data has identified a potential area of vulnerability beginning with the second benefit period, or 91st day in hospice,” Noridian indicated in an announcement.

Hospice 246

Hospice Document Medicare 2021 246

Hospice News

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

For example, data gathered from predictive analytics systems can give hospices an advantage when it comes to performance on measures like Hospice Visits in the Last Days of Life (HVLDL) and the Hospice Care Index (HCI), as well as predicting when patients become hospice eligible or will be in need to home health or palliative care services.

2007 275

2007 Hospice 2024 2023 275

Hospice News

MARCH 29, 2023

“For a hospice administrator or executive, you really have to be very focused on your length of stay data,” Young told Hospice News in a recent Elevate podcast episode. Are you in an outlier scenario with your data that Medicare contractors are looking at? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S.

Hospice 278

Hospice Medicare 2013 Hospice care 278

Hospice News

MARCH 29, 2024

Data are key to understanding how value-based care has helped highlight quality benefits of hospice. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is sunsetting the hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) as of Dec. The post Hospice’s Outlook in Value-Based Care appeared first on Hospice News.

2030 214

2030 Medicare End-of-life care Palliative care 214

Hospice News

JANUARY 17, 2024

Among the signatories were 63 hospice and palliative care providers across the country, 14 state hospice and palliative associations, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and the health care technology company Axxess.

Hospice 290

Hospice Palliative care 2008 End-of-life care 290

Hospice News

MARCH 1, 2024

Croix Hospice to expand in Iowa. “Nearly 37% of Iowa residents live in rural communities, and 21% of the state’s population receive Medicare. Croix Hospice, in a statement. A little more than 21,000 Medicare patients in Iowa elected hospice in 2021, according to the U.S. ” The post St.

Hospice 130

Hospice 2022 Medicare 2019 130

Hospice News

NOVEMBER 1, 2023

(NASDAQ: PNTG) has acquired Guardian Hospice and Guardian Hospice of Oklahoma for an undisclosed amount. Guardian Hospice of Oklahoma received Medicare certification in 2015 and has since grown its presence in the state and across Texas. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Hospice 255

Hospice 2015 Medicare 2021 255

Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 26, 2023

Regardless of where value-based payment is heading in the larger Medicare reimbursement landscape, hospices can anticipate some lasting impacts within their payment realm, including the possibility of more upfront financial risks, Wise indicated. Originally slated to complete next year, CMS expanded the hospice program through 2030.

Hospice 296

Hospice Medicare 2030 Palliative care 296

Hospice News

APRIL 29, 2022

The Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in has been the focus of much attention among providers, and many are watching closely for the demonstration’s outcomes. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the MCCM in 2016 to explore the idea of allowing hospice patients to receive concurrent curative care.

Hospice 340

Hospice 2016 Demo 2020 340

Hospice News

NOVEMBER 3, 2023

Since then, he has sponsored a number of bills designed to improve the quality of hospice care as well as combat fraud in the space. Blumenauer has co-led a number of bipartisan initiatives to improve program integrity within the Medicare Hospice Benefit, often in partnership with Rep. House of Representatives.

2009 216

2009 Hospice Medicare 2024 216

Hospice News

JANUARY 3, 2023

It would have prohibited the establishment of for-profit hospices in New York state and forbid current for-profit operators from increasing capacity. . Data suggest that hospice care is underutilized in New York compared to other states, straining other elements of the health care system,” Hochul wrote in her veto.

Hospice 281

Hospice Palliative care Medicare Palliate 281

Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 30, 2022

The state of hospice and palliative care markets. In 2021, hospice was a $23 billion industry that made up roughly 20% of the overall U.S. health care market, according to a report that Bank of America (BofA) Global Research shared with Hospice News.

2030 336

2030 Palliative care Palliate Hospice 336

NHPCO

DECEMBER 13, 2023

NHPCO Facts and Figures is the leading resource for hospice providers and others interested in understanding the work of the community. The 2023 Facts and Figures report continues to see the impact of COVID-19 on patient care and the effect of the COVID-19 waivers to the traditional delivery of hospice care.

2023 95

2023 2021 Medicare 2020 95

Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

Department of Justice (DOJ) is pursuing a qui tam lawsuit against Care Alternatives Inc., Four former employees of Care Alternatives have alleged that the New Jersey-based company billed Medicare for hospice services when patients were not eligible to receive them. The lawsuit was filed in the third circuit U.S.

2009 250

2009 Document 2008 2021 250