CMS Issues Proposed Hospice Wage Index Reduction

Late on April 28, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the anticipated proposed rule modifying the Medicare hospice wage index, phasing out the Budget Neutrality Adjustment Factor (BNAF) that was put into place in 1997. The proposal, if implemented, will cut Medicare payments by over $2.29 billion between 2009 and 2011.…