FY 2020 Hospice Wage Index Proposed Rule Released

The FY 2020 hospice wage index proposed rule was issued last week. The proposal includes a 2.7 percent payment update for FY 2020. Additionally, this includes rebasing the continuous home care (CHC), general inpatient care (GIP), and the inpatient respite care (IRC) per diem payment rates.

The rule proposes to modify the election statement requirements to require a hospice to include additional information aimed at increasing coverage transparency for patients that elect hospice. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is soliciting comments on the interaction of the hospice benefit and various alternative care delivery models, specifically the CBID carve-in. CMS will continue its work to modernize and strengthen Medicare operations through proposals to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP).

LeadingAge will share a summary and analysis in the near future. The text of the rule and a fact sheet can be accessed here and here. We encourage members with questions or feedback to reach out to us.

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