The home health industry won a major victory in its battle to scrap widely opposed provisions of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) Wednesday, as a group of bipartisan House lawmakers introduced a new bill targeting the payment overhaul’s behavioral assumptions. Introduced by Reps. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.) and Ralph Abraham (R-La.) — along […]
National Association for Home Care & Hospice
Health care policymakers on Monday unveiled a new voluntary risk-based initiative designed to reward physicians who keep patients at home and away from hospitals. Based upon the work of previous administrations, the new initiative marks a major inflection point for the value-based transformation of the U.S. health care system, according to Department of Health and […]
Lawmakers are pushing yet another piece of new legislation that would make it easier for patients to gain access to home health care, specifically by widening the scope of who can certify the need for home health services under Medicare rules. A bipartisan group of representatives introduced the Home Health Care Planning Improvement Act of […]
Although a fairly common practice in the senior housing and skilled nursing worlds, home health providers as a group have largely avoided bankruptcy proceedings, partly thanks to a steady reimbursement landscape and increasing demand for services by older Americans hoping to age in place. If history serves as any guide, that’s likely to change under […]
The Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) is likely right around the corner for Illinois home health providers. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced March 4 it had received Paperwork Reduction Act approval for RCD from the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Since OMB approval, the agency has been finalizing the […]
In its latest report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) recommended cutting the home health reimbursement rate by 5% in 2020 while continuing its push for a unified, site-neutral payment system for all post-acute care providers. Those recommendations are short-sighted and fail to recognize the value that home health care providers have created […]
With a slew of regulatory and legislative changes on the horizon — from the Patient-Driven Grouping Model (PDGM) to the Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) — the home-based care industry is poised for massive transformation. Despite federal challenges, the industry’s outlook is more promising than ever, advocates believe. “The image that you have is so, so […]
Newly introduced bipartisan legislation in the U.S. Senate is targeting the widely opposed behavioral adjustments set to hit home health agencies next year under the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM). If passed, the legislation would require the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to base Medicare reimbursement rates on observed evidence and data, instead of […]
The long-standing moratoria on new Medicare home health agencies is no longer in effect anywhere in the U.S. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) allowed the temporary ban to expire on Jan. 30, a move that will likely improve patient access to home-based care in related markets, experts say. CMS initially implemented a […]
When it takes effect next year, the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is expected to revolutionize home health agency operations and double billing efforts. As the biggest payment overhaul in years, it’s crucial for providers to spend 2019 preparing for — and fighting certain aspects of — […]
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