Hospice News

JULY 14, 2022

Margin pressures from the proposed cuts to Medicare home health rates could impact palliative care and hospice. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in June released its proposed home health reimbursement rule for 2023, which included a 4.2% pay hike for hospice care in 2023.

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Hospice News

JULY 27, 2022

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will give hospices a 3.8% bump in their per diem payments for 2023, according to a final rule published today. The rule also increases the hospice aggregate cap for next year by a corresponding 3.8% The post CMS Final Rule Gives Hospice 3.8% to $32,486.92.

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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.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 26, 2022

Medicare reimbursement is the lifeblood of hospice providers, and a clear understanding of policies like budget neutrality can help elucidate the payment systems that keep their businesses running. For example, CMS wouldn’t cut hospital payments to increase rates for hospices. These reductions occur within each service.

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Hospice News

MARCH 26, 2024

Though many expect a hospice M&A rebound in 2024, the scales are tipping in favor of home health companies among buyers. After 2023’s slump, PE firms have been sitting on more than $800 million in dry powder, according to data shared with Hospice News by The Braff Group. But additional data point to a resurgence.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 13, 2022

Most hospices are sliding into 2023 between a rock and a hard place, beset by headwinds, labor shortages and questions with no easy answers. Government oversight of hospice providers will tighten during 2023. Hospices have faced ever-intensifying scrutiny from regulators in recent years. Be ready for regulation.

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Hospice News

JUNE 8, 2023

s (NYSE: EHAB) M&A journey has narrowed towards hospice, diverting less in home health’s direction. Reimbursement uncertainties, shrinking pools of available assets, and rising valuations in the home health space are forces steering the company’s sights towards hospice, according to Enhabit executives. Acquisitions contributed $36.3

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

Regulators have been keeping an increasingly close watch on hospice providers, and this may intensify in 2023. Moving into next year, hospices have a spectrum of crucial issues on their plates. Hospice will have a lot going on in the regulatory space next year. What are your expectations going into 2023?

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 20, 2022

SCAN Health Plan is among the Medicare Advantage (MA) payers entering the hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) payment demonstration in 2023. The four-year program — often called the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in — launched Jan. Hospice VBID enters its third year in 2023.

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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). For this year, CMS increased the hospice base rate by 3.1%. set in 2023.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

Hospice operators in 2024 are navigating a rapidly transforming environment. The prior three years have laid the groundwork for change, particularly in the regulatory space as well as gradual migration towards value-based reimbursement and in tandem, the proliferation of business lines beyond hospice.

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Hospice News

APRIL 17, 2024

Legacy Hospice has acquired Mississippi-based HomeCare Hospice for an undisclosed sum. HomeCare Hospice operates four locations that cover most of its home state. By 2023, the bureau estimates that more than a quarter of the state’s residents will be older than 60, an increase of close to 40% since 2012. Census Bureau.

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Hospice News

MAY 30, 2023

Though nonprofit hospices now represent a smaller slice of the industry than in years past, they continue to care for more than half of patients in the United States who elect the benefit. The number of hospices operating nationwide rose to 5,3,58 in 2021, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

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Hospice News

MAY 3, 2023

Federal regulators are cracking down on the private insurers that administer Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. That growth has continued into 2023, with at least 157 plans offering home-based palliative care, according to data from Washington, D.C.-based based research and consulting firm ATI Advisory.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 19, 2022

Hospice News spoke with a group of industry leaders — from publicly traded companies, private firms and nonprofit organizations — about the major trends and most pressing concerns on their radar as the new year approaches. Croix Hospice, a portfolio company of H.I.G. In 2023, I believe we’ll see a recovery in staffing and volumes.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 10, 2023

If you were to write a book about hospice in 2023, what would you call it? To help answer that question, Hospice News asked the CEOs of eight providers how they would title a book about the state of the field today. Croix Hospice, AccentCare, Chapters Health System, Alivia Care, Enhabit, Inc., Heath Bartness, CEO, St.

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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.

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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.

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Hospice News

MARCH 20, 2023

Hospices are blazing trails toward growth, each provider with its own range of strategies. In 2023, the focus for many is to not only expand their core business but to spread further into the care continuum. By 2030, the hospice market’s total dollar value is expected to nearly double, reaching $64.7 billion, up from $34.5

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 18, 2022

While home health operators brace for the impact of the meager 2023 reimbursement rates, hospices likewise must prepare for a ripple effect. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently established a 0.7% base rate payment increase for home health care in 2023. While this is an improvement from the 4.2%

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Hospice News

APRIL 5, 2024

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed 2025 hospice rule is finalized as written, hospices may encounter some hurdles implementing some of the new requirements. CMS late last month issued its proposed hospice rule for 2025. If the U.S. The proposal called for a 2.6% The proposal called for a 2.6%

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Hospice News

MARCH 8, 2024

Tightened regulation in the hospice space has led to longer, more stringent diligence processes when it comes to buying and selling provider companies. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has honed in on hospice program integrity through a number of new regulations, including some in the agency’s 2024 hospice final rule.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 4, 2022

Only 10 new Medicare Advantage (MA) plans will offer home-based palliative care as a primarily health-related benefit for 2023, but payers may be offering those services through other programs. Among Medicare Advantage supplemental benefits, in-home support services and caregiver support saw the most year-over-year growth for 2023.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 14, 2022

SCAN Group and CareOregon have agreed to join forces in 2023 as a new organization called HealthRight Group. The new nonprofit will combine SCAN’s Medicare portfolio with CareOregon’s predominantly Medicaid health plans. The legacy SCAN would become the Medicare division of the company. Possible expansion into hospice.

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Hospice News

MARCH 28, 2024

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its 2025 proposed rule for hospice payment, which if finalized would include a 2.6% The proposal is a likely signal that CMS will not adopt a recent recommendation by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to freeze rates beginning next year.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 24, 2024

has acquired Superior Home Health and Superior Hospice of Texas. Combined, Superior’s home health and hospice businesses operate seven locations that serve 50 Texas counties and more than 500 cities. ” Hospice utilization in Texas runs high, with 143,284 Medicare decedents using these services in 2021, according to the U.S. .

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Hospice News

MARCH 12, 2024

Program integrity and an onslaught of audits are top of mind for many hospice providers in 2024. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). We look forward to continuing our work with CMS and Congress to ensure an equitable and effective enforcement system that preserves access to nonprofit, mission driven hospice care.”

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 24, 2023

The company expects the program to bring in roughly 25 new health care workers each month in 2023 at an estimated cost of $40 million, which VITAS hopes to offset with increased volume as staffing gains drive up capacity. “We VITAS launched the initiative in an effort to improve timely access to hospice care. across its markets.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 1, 2023

Wages for hospice clinicians continue to go up amid widespread staff shortages, but they grew at a slower rate in 2023 compared to the prior year. Meanwhile, turnover rates declined in 2023, representing the first drop in several years, the report indicated. Nationally, hourly wages for hospice RNs reached $38.08

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 1, 2022

The hospice component of the value-based insurance design (VBID) demonstration will include elements designed to promote health equity in 2023. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that health equity will be a key component of their payment model demonstrations going forward. “Health outcomes are unequal.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 19, 2024

Though the number of hospice M&A deals plummeted in 2023 compared to prior years, deals are still being made, and the industry may see a rebound in 2024. Transaction volume declined in the hospice and home-based care space in 2023, following the two record-breaking prior years. The company in Q4 of last year saw a 33.9%

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Hospice News

MARCH 14, 2024

Hospices, in aggregate, are showing improvement on the quality measure for visits in the last days of life. 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).

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 28, 2023

Providers see sustainability and expanded service growth as main draws to participating in the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recent webinar. On the hospice side, we conducted interviews of both in- and out-of-network hospices in VBID.

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Hospice News

JUNE 3, 2022

The Medicare Part A trust fund is still on track to run short of money before the decade is out, but not as quickly as previously anticipated. By 2028, Medicare would have sufficient dollars to cover 90% of Medicare expenses. Hospice expenditures in particular are expected to increase to more than $48.2 population.” ?

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 8, 2024

After 75 years of service, Georgia-based hospice provider Visiting Nurse Health System (VNHS) has its sights set on the future. Founded in 1948, the organization was the first home-based care provider to operate in Georgia, and in 1975 launched the state’s first hospice program. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reported.

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Hospice News

MARCH 19, 2024

Employment in the home-based care sector rose above pre-pandemic levels in 2023, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). Department of Commerce defines this sector to include hospices, home health agencies, private duty, pediatric agencies and other providers of care in the home.

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Hospice News

MARCH 13, 2024

As hospice program integrity remains in the spotlight, California remains the only state to take action on curbing the problem. Beginning in 2021, numerous reports emerged of unethical or illegal practices among hundreds of newly licensed hospices, particularly among new companies popping up in California, Texas, Nevada and Arizona.

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