November 2018

CMS Releases New Home Health Regulation for 2019

A new regulation will bring changes in how Medicare pays for and regulates home health services in 2019. Included in the regulation released last week are: A 2.2 percent increase in home health payments. Creation of remote patient monitoring benefit for home health patients. Creation of a home infusion benefit. Removal of some measures from the home health quality reporting program. Changes in the home health value-based purchasing model. For a complete look at the changes coming to how Medicare will treat home health services in 2019, go here to see a CMS fact sheet on the new regulation and [...]

MedPAC Meets

Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. to discuss a number of Medicare payment issues. The issues on MedPAC’s November agenda were: MedPAC’s mandated report on long-term care hospitals patient functional assessment data used in Medicare payment and quality measurement modifying advanced alternative payment model (A-APM) payments modifying the Medicare-dependent hospital program promoting greater Medicare-Medicaid integration in dual-eligible special-needs plans the Medicare Advantage quality bonus program Medicare Advantage encounter data MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues involving the Medicare program.  While its recommendations are not binding on either Congress or the [...]

New Home Health Reg Brings Changes

A new home health care regulation finalized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services brings major changes in how Medicare will pay for home health services in the future. In addition to updating Medicare payment rates, the new rule also: introduces a new home health payment system called the Patient-Driven Groupings Model that de-emphasizes the volume of care provided; authorizes Medicare payments for remote patient monitoring; adds a new home infusion therapy benefit; and reduces the amount of quality data home health providers must report. To learn more about the new regulation, which takes effect on January 1, 2019, [...]

Go to Top