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Federal / State Regulatory Update 9/19/2023

Federal News and Information Standing Technical Expert Panel (TEP) for the Development, Evaluation, and Maintenance of Post-Acute Care (PAC) and Hospice Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Measurement Sets Acumen, LLC and Abt Associates Inc. (hereafter referred to as Acumen and Abt) support CMS in the development and maintenance of quality measures for the Post-Acute Care (PAC) […]

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Federal / State Regulatory Update 08/22/2023

New Mexico Register Regulation and Licensing Department Social Work Examiners Board Ensure your social workers are aware of the rule change! The New Mexico Board of Social Work Examiners Board has approved the repeal of its rule 16.63.18 NMAC – Licensure for Military Service Members, Spouses, Dependent Children and Veterans (filed 03/13/2022) and replace it […]

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Hospice National News 08/15/2023

NHPCO And NAHC To Pursue A “New, Combined Organization” “Newly Created Organization Would be Stronger Voice to Represent the Spectrum of Home and Community-Based Health Providers” reads the title of an 8/10 news release from the boards of the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) and the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization […]

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Federal & State Regulatory News 8/15/2023

Federal News and Information Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Dementia Care Model On July 31, HHS, through CMS, announced its Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model, which aims to improve the quality of life for people living with dementia, reduce strain on unpaid caregivers, and help people remain in their homes and communities through a […]

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Regulatory Update 8/8/23

Federal Register Update Medicare Program: FY 2024 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update, Hospice Conditions of Participation Updates, Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements, and Hospice Certifying Physician Provider Enrollment Requirements The final rule for the Medicare hospice payments and aggregate cap amount for FY 2024 were updated. CMS is closely examining the hospice industry […]

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Hospice National News 8/8/2023

CMS Announces FY 2024 Final Rule for Hospice Payment Rate On July 28, CMS announced the final rule for the hospice payment rate for fiscal year 2024. The fact sheet discusses the rule, and addressed the aggregate cap for2024. “It also discusses comments received regarding information related to the provision of higher levels of hospice […]

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Hospice News 08/01/2023

Featured Article: Providers to Lawmakers: Hospice a ‘Huge Value to Medicare’ Rising regulatory scrutiny around length of stay may be having adverse impacts on health care costs and quality, hospice leaders said in a recent Congressional briefing. Fear of regulatory attention, audits or post-payment reviews related to longer stays could drive some hospice providers to […]

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Regulatory Update 8/1/2023

Federal Register Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 42 CFR Parts 409, 410, 414, 424, 484, 488, and 489 Medicare Program; Calendar Year (CY) 2024 Home Health (HH) Prospective Payment System Rate Update; HH Quality Reporting Program Requirements; HH Value-Based Purchasing Expanded Model Requirements; Home Intravenous Immune Globulin Items and Services; Hospice Informal Dispute Resolution […]

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Hospice National News 07/25/2023

Federal Regulators Focusing Extra Scrutiny On Hospice Providers In Four States Federal regulators will enhance oversight of new hospices in Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas. CMS announced that all newly formed hospices in these states will receive enhanced oversights due to hospice fraud, waste and abuse. ProPublica, covering this story and other earlier-reported hospice news, […]

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TNMHO Regulatory Update 7/25/2023

National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) NHPCO shared the following information~ NHPCO Welcomes Congressional Reintroduction of the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act NHPCO and its advocacy affiliate, The Hospice Action Network (HAN) are pleased to support the reintroduction of the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) in the […]

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Hospice & Palliative National News 7/4/2023

A Palliative Care CMMI Demo Could Ignite Competition for Hospices New legislation is leading some hospices to consider what a potential community-based palliative care payment demo would mean for them — as well as what it would look like. Four U.S. senators recently introduced a bipartisan bill that, if enacted, would steer the Center for […]

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Regulatory Update 07/04/2023

Federal News and Information Office of Inspector General (OIG) OIG has determined that they will audit GIP for specific situations.Audit of Selected, High-Risk Medicare Hospice General Inpatient ServicesMedicare pays hospices a daily reimbursement rate for each day an individual is enrolled to receive the hospice benefit. The reimbursement rate for hospice general inpatient (GIP) care […]

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Regulatory Update 6/27/2023

Federal News and Information Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design Model The Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model will be extended for calendar years 2025 through 2030 and will introduce changes intended to more fully address the health-related social needs of patients, advance health equity, and improve […]

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Hospice National News 6/20/2023

Costs, Short Lengths of Stay Create Barriers to Some Services for Hospice Patients CMS included a series of requests for information (RFIs) in its proposed 2024 hospice payment rule. Among them were questions about patients’ utilization of complex care services including blood transfusions, chemotherapy, radiation or dialysis. In comments on the rule, hospices and industry […]

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Hospice National News 6/13/2023

Several Nonprofit Hospices Reported Ones To Watch HOSPICE NOTES The Senate Comprehensive Care Caucus (SCCC) introduced the Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Barrasso (R-WY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Deb Fisher (R-NE) form the bipartisan SCCC. The bill “would create a demonstration project within Medicare to allow palliative care to […]

Regulatory Update 05/23/2023

Palmetto Ending of the COVID 19 Public Health Emergency The federal public health emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, declared under Section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, expired at the end of the day on May 11, 2023. Providers can learn more about the impact of the expiration of the PHE on any COVID-19 Waiver […]

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Hospice National News 04/25/2023

Hospice And Palliative Medicine Physicians Address Their Concerns About Quality Hospice Via “Core Roles And Responsibilities Of Physicians In Hospice Care” A group of individual physicians are speaking out with their concerns “about troubling variability and quality of U.S. hospice care.” The statement speaks to these “core roles and responsibilities of hospice medical directors,” and […]

NM & TX Legislative Update 2/3/2023

PLEASE NOTE: New information added from the previous week is in bold in its entirety. We hope that you will find this information helpful and insightful. If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Maxcine “Max” Tomlinson at: mtomlinson@txnmhospice.org. 56th New Mexican Legislative Session The New Mexican second session of […]

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Medicare May Be Spending Far Less On End-Of-Life Patients Than We Think

“We should be looking to how much we spend on sick people, not how much we spend on people who die within some arbitrary time frame. If we are going to cure the medical cost growth problem, we first need to accurately diagnose the problem.”