A national, nonprofit organization that promotes, advances and supports mission-driven providers of community-based health care has revealed the specific home health and hospice legislation it will focus on and which causes it will seek to advance on Capitol Hill in the coming months. The Visiting Nurse Association of America (VNAA), based in Arlington, Virginia, outlined two […]
Two U.S. Senators have called for a controversial home health pre-claim review demonstration program to be delayed in Florida, and they reiterated concerns over how pre-claim threatens providers and patients. And their concerns appear well-founded, considering reports from providers in Illinois, where pre-claim already has been implemented. “We remain concerned this demonstration may restrict beneficiary access to […]
The most recent proposal for a new prospective payment system (PPS) for home health agencies was released last week. One major home health provider has a few reservations, but thinks the company could support the proposal depending on specific details still to be released. “It’s difficult to formulate an opinion on what their doing,” Richard MacMillan, senior vice president […]
Home health agencies may be worried about offering services to patients whose conditions are not improving. But home health and other providers need to be reassured that they can in fact bill Medicare for these types of services and expect payment, a federal judge recently ordered. Indeed, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) […]
The $180 million reduction in CY2017 Medicare home health payments proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) isn’t enough and should go further, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) wrote in a letter to CMS. The proposed changes to the Medicare home health prospective payment system (HH PPS), which were posted on […]
This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Medicare Accountable Care Organizations saved more than $466 million in 2015, surpassing shared savings in 2014. Other highlights of the week include a Harvard pilot study that utilized a checklist for caregivers, enabling them to track changes in patients’ conditions and potentially monitor and […]
Average market values of the three largest publicly traded companies in the home health industry hit a new all-time high in the most recent Stoneridge Partners Home Health Index. For the fourth month in a row, market values for Almost Family (Nasdaq: AFAM), LHC Group (Nasdaq: LHCG) and Amedisys (Nasdaq: AMED), increased and surpassed the previous index […]
A relatively small program that provides medical and social services to older adults and enables aging in place is getting its first facelift since 2006. Some of the changes include proposals lawmakers have pushed since 2014. A new rule proposal from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would update the Programs of All-Inclusive […]
Many older Americans who have chronic diseases have limited access to in-home medical care, not only because of their location but also because primary care providers are less likely to visit their patients at home, according to a new study. In fact, seven times more primary care providers visited nursing homes than patients at home […]
A pilot program that aims to expand in-home primary care for chronically ill patients continues to achieve care improvements and reduce Medicare costs. The Independence at Home demonstration saved Medicare more than $10 million this year. On average, there was $1,010 per beneficiary saved this year among 15 practices and 10,000 Medicare beneficiaries, according to […]
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