- Center on Health Equity & Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
Medicare Proposes Higher Hospice Payments
The CMS intends increase Medicare payments to hospices and also make several tweaks to policy definitions and procedures to ensure more accurate reimbursement.
The CMS intends increase Medicare payments to hospices and also make several tweaks to policy definitions and procedures to ensure more accurate reimbursement.
The proposed payment rule would increase hospice payments by 1.3% for an estimated $230 million more than they received in fiscal 2014.
The rule also seeks to clarify the meaning of “terminally ill” in the hospice benefit. To be able to use the Medicare hospice benefit, a patient must be deemed to have a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness runs its normal course. While this has long been the standard, the CMS says the medical community has continued to express interest in a more nuanced definition.
As a result, the agency is seeking feedback on a definition that would take into account a person's physical, emotional, social and intellectual processes that collectively are causing progressive impairment of body systems.
Read the full story here: http://bit.ly/1ii76p8
Source: Modern Healthcare
Trump Administration’s Message to Supreme Court Puts New Wrinkle in Braidwood Case
February 21st 2025The Trump administration argues that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr can overrule the US Preventive Services Task Force to determine the preventive services covered under the Affordable Care Act.
Read More
Varied Access: The Pharmacogenetic Testing Coverage Divide
February 18th 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with the author of a study published in the February 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® to uncover significant differences in coverage decisions for pharmacogenetic tests across major US health insurers.
Listen
5 Key Health Care Moments During President Trump's First Month Back in Office
February 21st 2025President Donald J. Trump pushed for significant health care changes during his first month back in office, through executive orders affecting managed care, drug pricing, and clinical trial diversity guidance.
Read More
Same-Day Breast Imaging Gaps Reveal Health Care Disparities
February 18th 2025For this retrospective study, the authors examined data on more than 3 million screening mammographies for more than 1 million female patients; of the screenings, 23.6% had abnormal results and only 6.7% were recommended for biopsy.
Read More
