Tag: Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018

PDGM Under Scrutiny at MedPAC Meeting

Some Commissioners lament base payment rate The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met to discuss the development of a mandated report assessing the impact of the shift to the PDGM payment model for Medicare Home Health, and in particular the 30-day episode and the removal of therapy utilization in payment determinations. According to MedPAC staff,…

Office of Inspector General Adds Home Health Work Plan Item

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has added a new item, Analysis of New Rural Add-On Payment Methodology, to its Work Plan, which details various projects, including OIG audits and evaluations that are underway or planned to be addressed during the fiscal year and beyond, by OIG’s Office of Audit Services and Office of Evaluation…

What the 2020 Medicare Home Health Final Rule Means

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice held a free-to-all webinar on Wednesday, November 5, 2019, to discuss the 2020 Medicare Home Health Final Rule and answer any questions. If you missed the webinar and would like to view the recording, please GO HERE. On October 31, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid…

CMS Proposes Expanded Role for Physician Assistants in Hospice CoP

As reported previously, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (BBA 2018) included a provision permitting physician assistants (PAs), beginning January 1, 2019, to serve as hospice attending physicians.  This change affords patients whose primary care practitioner is a PA to receive the same continuity of care that has been available for patients served by nurse…

Statement of NAHC President William A. Dombi Regarding the Medicare Home Health Proposed Rule Issued on July 11

CMS late today issued the proposed rule for the 2020 payment model, PDGM, including rates of payment that would start January 1, 2020. The new payment model had been finalized in its design in the 2019 rulemaking cycle. The proposed rule offers some minor tweaks in the payment model and sets out 2020 payment rates…

Legislation to Stop Home Health Rate Cuts Introduced in Congress

STOP THE PROPOSED CMS HOME HEALTH RATE CUT! A bill just introduced in the House of Representatives would eliminate the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) ability to reduce reimbursement rates for home health care. The Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of February 2018 authorized CMS to make rate adjustments on the basis of assumptions…

Help NAHC Stop CMS’ Big Home Health Rate Cut!

STOP THE PROPOSED CMS HOME HEALTH RATE CUT! In February, Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) of 2018. Included in this law were various reforms to the Medicare Home Health benefit. One such provision called for budget neutrality in any change to the payment model, so that future spending would remain consistent with projections…

CMS Finalizes Application of Post-Acute Transfer Policy to Early Hospital Discharges to Hospice

As referenced previously, the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 included a provision under which certain “early” hospital discharges to hospice care will be paid at a per diem daily rate in lieu of the full diagnosis-related group (DRG) rate beginning October 1, 2018.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) provided insights into its…