Hospice News

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. A California-based physician is suing the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to fraud allegations that have resulted in licensure and billing privilege revocation. Shaarawy denies the allegations, citing misunderstandings made by Noridian.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 27, 2024

The research effort comes as palliative care providers increasingly work to illustrate the value proposition of their services across the health care continuum. SMI patients with serious physical illnesses often have less access to appropriate medical care and mental health services.

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Hospice News

APRIL 9, 2025

Family caregiving is the greatest untold story in the health care space, Durrance told Palliative Care News. The documentary is part of WETAs health, fitness and wellness series, Well Beings. Additional, caregiving has negatively impacted health conditions among nearly a quarter (24%) of Americans. in association with Ark Media.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 9, 2024

Topics span trends related to program integrity, workforce development, health equity, service diversification and the keys to hospices growth strategies. Among the most significant dealmakers in the hospice space this year was Optum, subsidiary of the insurance and health care giant UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH).

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Hospice News

JANUARY 24, 2025

We continue to see more hospitals and health systems value palliative care services offered by their care partners. The end of the value-based insurance designs (VBID) payment demonstration, which included palliative care components, whittled down providers payment options even further. There are exceptions, though.

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Hospice News

MAY 12, 2025

Department of Justice (DOJ) has rejected the sale of Amedisys (Nasdaq: AMED) home health and hospice assets to BrightSpring Health Services Inc. Amedisys earlier this month announced the divestiture of a number of its home health and hospice locations to several companies, including affiliates of BrightSpring and Pennant.

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Hospice News

MARCH 7, 2025

Trends that have taken shape in the value-based insurance design (VBID) demonstration and other payment models may be among the driving forces. The model pointed to the benefits of allowing patients to receive palliative and hospice care concurrently with curative care, which was found to reduce health care costs and improve quality.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 18, 2024

Rising demand, workforce growth and organizational culture are three significant pieces driving much of the recent hospice merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, according to Andrew Molosky, president and CEO of Chapters Health System, a large Florida-based nonprofit hospice provider.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 19, 2024

Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) set out to determine whether Medicare payments to acute-care hospitals for outpatient services provided to hospice enrollees complied with Medicare requirements. million in deductibles and co-insurance that may have been improperly collected, according to OIG.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 26, 2025

The organization is the fourth-largest home health provider in the state, according to Aaron Wheeler, vice president of home and community-based services. While analyzing their home health census, the organization identified a significant number of patients with chronic medical conditions who required an additional level of care.

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Hospice News

MAY 2, 2025

Hospice providers can point to a few guidelines when building and growing a pet therapy program, she said, including: Starting a small pilot pet therapy program of one or two teams Being mindful of allergies that patients and families may have Understanding differences of patients cultural viewpoints and beliefs around animals Ensuring both hospice (..)

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Hospice News

MARCH 21, 2025

working hand-in-glove on policy issues with colleagues across the home health and hospice industries. I did some regulatory work before the Public Service Commission at the states Department of Health. This was always a career path I wanted to take, but the form of it coming in home health and hospice was not one I expected.

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Hospice News

MARCH 12, 2025

Karlin is also palliative care medical director at UCLA Healths Palliative Care Program. Access to palliative care can help support a patient and their family through several iterations of physical, emotional and financial changes as they enter the adult health care space, he stated.

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Hospice News

MAY 14, 2025

The Wisconsin State Assembly has approved a bill requiring the states Department of Health Services (DHS) to create a statewide palliative care council. The council would also include legislators and insurance company representatives with expertise in palliative care.

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Hospice News

MARCH 14, 2025

Swelling aging populations have fueled rising health care costs across the country, with payers and providers alike seeking ways to ensure affordable access and sustainable services. The Texas-headquartered company provides hospice, home health and rehabilitation services. Hospice care was found to save Medicare approximately $3.5

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Hospice News

JANUARY 23, 2025

For example, we try to buy vehicles for our nurses, home health aides, social workers and chaplains. We have a fleet of about 22 vehicles that we have them drive and we insure them. They are a huge nonprofit operating across four states and have revenue streams in behavioral health, hospice and other services.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 27, 2024

NASDAQ: AMED) has made large investments in expanding access to palliative care, particularly through joint ventures with health systems. Expanding palliative care relationships and joint venture partnerships is a priority for 2024, the Louisiana-based home health and hospice provider indicated in a filing with the U.S.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 10, 2025

Some insurance companies have realized how these services reduce unnecessary hospitalizations and readmissions, and how a stronger reimbursement model is needed for this interdisciplinary approach in the home. Right now our health care system continues to be so fragmented. That is the future.

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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. Through Medicare Advantage, CMS contracts with private insurance companies to provide coverage for Medicare beneficiaries.

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Hospice News

APRIL 3, 2025

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), where he will oversee the nations largest health insurance programs including the Medicare Hospice Benefit. Health care cost-per-person in this country is twice that of other developed nations Why is it costing us so much? Because of chronic disease.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 2, 2023

The three-pronged initiative includes a higher minimum hourly wage, year-end gratitude bonuses for all employees and lower health insurance premiums for lower-wage earners. The hospice provider has also revamped employee health insurance plans in 2023. To achieve this, Agrace became self-insured. “We

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AlayaCare

MARCH 13, 2024

Pediatric private duty nursing agency First Day Homecare faced significant hurdles and inefficiencies in billing secondary insurance claims and multiple payors. Improved cash flow: Streamlines the process of tracking and collecting receivables from each payor, enhancing the organization’s cash flow and financial health.

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Hospice News

JUNE 2, 2025

This is according to Amy Scheu, associate vice president hospice and palliative care at Advocate Health Care. But organizations providing these services were a little bit more heavily weighted in the hospice space, with then some hospitals, medical groups and freestanding health systems providing a lot less of those services.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 27, 2022

But we’re not so good about going out there in the community and figuring out how to bargain with insurance plans.”. Sinai looked to expand its palliative care program, the health system opted to pursue partnerships with providers that have a longer history of developing payor contracts for those services. Based in New York City, Mt.

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Hospice News

JUNE 12, 2024

Inflation and rising health care utilization are driving U.S. health care spending to growth faster than the country’s gross domestic product (GDP). The nation’s health care spend is projected to reach nearly $5.1 During 2023 alone, national health care spending rose an estimated 7.5%. trillion in 2024, up from $4.5

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 12, 2023

The nation’s annual health care spend reached $4.5 In 2020, the growth rate was 10.6%, according to a report published in Health Affairs. The proportion of health care spending relative to the overall economy was 17.3%, also down from 2020’s rate of 19.5%. population was insured, a “historic high,” the report indicated.

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Hospice News

MAY 7, 2025

Journey of Care is among the rare companies that strictly provide palliative care, without the service being attached to a hospice, health system, primary care company or other entity. A new palliative care provider has emerged in Colorado, branded as Journey of Care. The company was established about six months ago.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 13, 2023

to conduct the analysis of the program, formally called the hospice component of the value-based insurance design model (VBID). In 2022, 13 insurance companies offered hospice VBID benefits through a total of 109 health plans. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) commissioned the RAND Corp. About 6.5%

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Hospice News

MARCH 18, 2025

Texas-headquartered Addus provides personal care, home health and hospice services in 23 states. UnitedHealth Groups (NYSE: UNH) health care arm Optum has made recent moves toward two of the industrys largest providers. The health insurance giant purchased LHC Group in 2023 for $5.4

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Hospice News

MAY 1, 2025

Dr. Heather Cianfrocco, CEO of the companys health services subsidiary Optum, has been promoted to serve as UnitedHealth Groups executive vice president of governance, compliance and information security. He has held senior leadership roles at Optum Rx and Optum Health since February 2020. Patrick Conway, a pediatrician.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 13, 2023

The quest for cost reductions, often through risk-based models, is leading a rising number of insurance companies and other payers to make (sometimes) huge investments in the space. These investments underscore the rising profile of the home setting within the health care system, according to UnitedHealth Care CEO Andrew Witty. “I’d

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Hospice News

MAY 13, 2025

Hemsley will become the insurance and health care giants CEO, effective immediately. UnitedHealth Groups (NYSE: UNH) Chairman and President Stephen J. Previous CEO Andrew Witty stepped down on Tuesday for personal reasons, according to a statement from UnitedHealth Group.

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Hospice News

APRIL 5, 2023

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will allow hospice patients to receive concurrent care through the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in, and will permit health plans to further restrict utilization of out-of-network providers. Currently, providing those benefits is optional for VBID payers.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 6, 2023

A rising number of health systems and community-based providers have been making larger investments in palliative care through joint ventures. This cooperative model is proving to be a good fit for many health systems that may not have the time or resources to build their own home-based care programs from scratch.

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Hospice News

JUNE 30, 2023

But to attract donors, operators must be prepared to communicate their value proposition, according to Steve Cone, chief communications officer at Capital Caring Health. And also that it’s a service available to those that have no insurance.” Raising philanthropic funding is often vital to nonprofit palliative care providers.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 14, 2022

health care system is in a state of flux, as the home gains prominence as a care setting and value-based payment builds momentum. Through these efforts, UnitedHealth Group plans to slash its health care spending by helping patients remain in the lower-cost home setting and prevent avoidable high-acuity admissions.

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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. The hospice component, which launched in 2021, is part of the larger VBID demonstration, which covers a wider breadth of the health care continuum and is slated to continue until 2030. About 6.5%

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