The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 hospice final rule regarding Medicare payment rates and the wage index for hospices serving Medicare beneficiaries.

CMS has finalized a 3.1 percent ($780 million) market basket increase in national hospice payments for FY 2024 over FY 2023. The rule updates the Routine Home Care (RHC), Continuous Home Care (CHC), Inpatient Respite Care (IRC), and General Inpatient Care (GIC) hospice Medicare rates for FY 2024.

The final rule provides a modest increase to the market basket or inflationary update compared to what was initially projected in the proposed rule. LeadingAge continues to voice concerns about the ability of hospices to provide high-quality services given the continuing rise in costs for providing care.

LeadingAge National’s statement on the final rule is available here, and its comments on the proposed rule, submitted in May, are here.

Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871