As the hospice community takes its first steps into value-based reimbursement, stakeholders have an opportunity to re-examine elements of the Medicare Hospice Benefit that may be outdated, according to some providers.
The hospice benefit became a formal part of Medicare in 1983. Initially, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) and its collaborators predominantly designed the program around the needs of cancer patients.
This changing tide has led questions around the continued value of the six-month terminal prognosis requirement for hospice eligibility, with some contending that value-based reimbursement can be a driver for change, according to Kenneth Albert, president and CEO of Maine-based Androscoggin Home Healthcare + Hospice at the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) Financial Management Conference in Las Vegas.
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