On August 22, 2014, CMS will publish a final rule to update the Medicare hospice wage index for FY 2015 and make other payment and policy changes. CMS estimates that hospice payments will increase by 1.4% ($230 million) in FY 2015 compared to FY 2014 under the final rule. Specifically, CMS will update the hospice per diem rates by 2.1% (reflecting a 2.9% market basket increase that is reduced by 0.8 percentage points under ACA-mandated adjustments), but this update is partially offset by a 0.7 percentage point cut resulting from the use of updated wage data and CMS's continued phase-out of its wage index budget neutrality adjustment factor. Hospices that fail to report quality data will have their market basket update reduced by 2 percentage points.
CMS is finalizing a number of policy proposals. For instance, the final rule requires hospices to file a beneficiary Notice of Election (NOE) within five calendar days after the effective date of hospice election (compared to three days in the proposed rule). If an NOE is not filed timely, the days from the effective date of election to the date of filing the NOE would be the financial responsibility of the hospice (unless there are exceptional circumstances). Likewise, CMS is requiring hospices to file a notice of termination/revocation within five (rather than the proposed three) calendar days of a beneficiary's discharge or revocation, unless the hospice has already filed a final claim. The rule also, among other things: requires the hospice to identify the attending physician on the election form; revises the applicability of quality reporting penalties to new hospices; requires hospices to complete their hospice cap determinations within five months after the cap year but no sooner than 3 months after the cap period and remit any overpayments; and describes the development of the CAHPS® Hospice Survey.
This article is presented for informational purposes only and is not intended to constitute legal advice.
