The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule that will result in a 3.7% positive payment adjustment for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans in 2025. According to an analysis done by the private investment banking company Stephens, rates are expected to remain virtually unchanged, with a slight decrease of 0.16%. This marks the […]
Category: Legislation
A Georgia House Bill that would create a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) was passed by the state senate earlier this month. House Bill 1078 passed in a 49 to 1 senate vote. Specifically, the bill creates a new adult day center licensure exclusion in order to authorize the Department of Community […]
Individuals who are dually eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid make up a sizable portion of the overall home-based care population. Too often, though, this dual status comes with frustrating challenges around care plans and coordination. Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate on Thursday hopes to reduce some of those frustrations while also creating new […]
The erosion of non-solicitation agreements poses a significant challenge for home care providers, potentially undercutting their business models and profitability. Non-solicitation agreements keep home care clients from poaching caregivers trained and supplied by agencies. In certain states with stricter rules against non-competes — like California and Connecticut — the lines between non-solicitation and non-compete agreements […]
If a senior or homebound patient is eligible for home health care, there are a number of caregiving professionals who can open a case and begin an assessment. Those include nurses, physical therapists and others. One profession that is not on that list is an occupational therapist. However, a new proposed bill could change that. […]
Two senators introduced a bill Thursday that would create a pilot program aimed at expanding the scope of hospital-at-home care in the U.S. Dubbed the At Home Observation and Medical Evaluation (HOME) Services Act, the bill was introduced specifically by Sens. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and Tom Carper (D-Del.). Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) was an original […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has issued a final rule that will have a significant impact on the test used to determine whether someone is an independent contractor or an employee under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). The rule — aimed at addressing the misclassification of workers as independent contractors — could potentially […]
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommended that the Medicare base payment rate for home health care be reduced by 7% for CY 2025. The recommendation is another chapter in the contentious relationship between the commission and the home health industry. It also recommended that Congress eliminate any payment updates for hospice providers in 2025. […]
Access to home- and community-based services (HCBS) has increased over the last few years. But, despite some of the spotlight that the current administration has shone on HCBS, there is still a lot of work to be done to unlock the full potential of these services. “The reality of the funding aspect of Medicaid does […]
Over the past several years, many states have strengthened their home- and community-based services (HCBS) programs by covering more services and increasing rates. Now, over a dozen members of Congress are trying to give states additional funding to help expand those HCBS programs further. “A vast majority of seniors and people with disabilities would prefer […]
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