CMS Releases Proposed FY 2020 Hospice Wage Index, Payment Rate and Quality Reporting Requirements

CMS has issued a proposed rule that would update hospice payment rates, wage index values, and quality reporting items for fiscal year 2020. The rule also proposes to rebase the continuous home care (CHC), general inpatient care (GIP), and the inpatient respite care (IRC) per diem payment rates in a budget-neutral manner “to more accurately align Medicare payments with the costs of providing care.” Further, the rule proposes to modify the election statement requirements to require the hospice to include additional information aimed at increasing coverage transparency for patients that elect hospice. CMS estimates that aggregate payments to hospices in FY 2020 will increase by $540 million. For more details, see today’s fifth Financial Feature.