Home health providers continue to make serious progress in reducing improper payments under fee-for-service Medicare, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Monday. Since 2016, improper payments to home health providers have dropped by an estimated $5.9 billion, according to CMS. All improper payments in fee-for-service Medicare are down by an estimated […]
Category: CMS
Despite a vital need for palliative care in community settings, home-based care providers have been slow to invest in such services. Providers have often cited financial concerns as a roadblock. Yet those providers that have turned their attention to palliative care frequently see positive returns. TRU Community Care, for example, saw its palliative care segment […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Monday touted several tools designed to help states rebalance their long-term care ecosystem toward home- and community-based services. The development is the latest in a series of CMS efforts aimed at strengthening home- and community-based services amid the COVID-19 pandemic, with the ultimate goal of […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final home health payment rule for CY 2021 on Thursday, with essentially no changes to the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) or its controversial behavioral adjustment. In addition to doubling down on PDGM, boosting the home health base payment rate by 1.9% and making minor […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its final 2021 home health payment rule Thursday. In doing so, it changed very little from what it first proposed in June. The final rule adds an estimated $390 million home health payment boost for agencies in 2021, or an aggregate increase of 1.9%. That […]
In response to ongoing opposition from both lawmakers and providers, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced it has made changes to its rules surrounding COVID-19 relief funding. The department’s amended rules now allow providers to use Provider Relief Fund (PRF) money toward lost revenue that’s potentially unrelated to COVID-19. “After reimbursing […]
As home health and home care operators move toward the ninth month of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to take stock of what has been accomplished from a policy perspective. Many of 2020’s regulatory changes will be fleeting, but others will shape the future of post-acute care for years to come. That was the message […]
The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) is in need of a “course correction,” top U.S. health care officials believe. And part of that may include a national expansion of the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model. Created under the Affordable Care Act, CMMI — also known as the CMS Innovation Center — supports the […]
Now that the dust has settled on the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), some have returned their attention toward the idea of another major reimbursement overhaul: a unified post-acute payment system. There had been mounting momentum behind a unified payment model for post-acute care providers headed into 2020. The ongoing COVID-19 emergency has derailed a lot […]
In passing a bipartisan funding bill last week to avoid a possible government shutdown, the U.S. Senate officially restructured and relaxed repayment terms for the Medicare loans taken out by home health providers in spring. President Donald Trump signed the funding bill into law on Wednesday, just two days before being flown to Walter Reed […]