On April 17, Coco Sellman, Board Chair and Co-Owner All Pointe Homecare; Chris Pankratz, Government Relations Chair and Owner Masters in Home Care; Jen Stewart, Lincoln Financial; and Tracy Wodatch, CAHH President and CEO took to Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. for NAHC’s Advocacy Day.  They met with the staff in six of the seven Connecticut Congressional offices to address challenges facing home and community-based services, including PDGM cuts for home health, the impact of the pending (now final) 80/20 Medicaid Access Rule and hospice program integrity.

 

Overall, our Connecticut delegation understands the extreme underfunding of Medicaid and Managed Medicare services along with the impact of further cuts to Medicare PDGM for home health.  Congressmen Larson and Himes are co-sponsoring HR 5159 (to stop further PDGM cuts).   

 

Washington, D.C. — As an organization dedicated to increasing access to services that allow people to receive compassionate, expert care in their homes and communities, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) is extremely disappointed that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) elected to finalize the “payment adequacy” provision in the Medicaid Access Final Rule (CMS 2442-F). This is a misguided policy that will result in agency closures, force providers to exit the Medicaid program, and will ultimately make access issues worse around the country. As NAHC and our partners across the home care industry have demonstrated, such a provision is not only unworkable due to the varied nature of Medicaid programs across the country, CMS also lacks statutory authority to impose this mandate.

What’s the value of a home health star rating on Care Compare? Not as high as you may think, according to a new study released this week.

 

Researchers who analyzed nearly 23 million patient outcomes before and after the introduction of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ star ratings in 2015 found a bit of an incongruity: While home health agencies in their self-reporting recorded functional improvement in patients, claims-based (i.e., more objective) measures found corresponding increases in hospitalizations and less timely initiation of care.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced updates on Thursday to Medicare Advantage and Part D plans for the contract year 2025.

 

The changes aim to enhance protections for enrollees, ensure fair competition among plans, and streamline benefits to meet the health care needs of Medicare beneficiaries more effectively.

 

Medicare Advantage, also known as Medicare Part C, offers an alternative way for Medicare beneficiaries to receive their Part A (hospital insurance) and Part B (medical insurance) coverage.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) held its most recent Home Health, Hospice and DME Open Door Forum on Wednesday, April 3. In this article, NAHC summarizes the forum content relevant to home health.

 

Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS^®)  

A new fact sheet has been posted in both English and Spanish. Participating home health agencies are strongly encouraged to include the HHCAHPS fact sheet in the initial patient information packet so that patients are aware of the survey and its importance.

 

Participants were reminded that a new HHCAHPS reporting year began on April 1,2024. Additionally, a new HHA Responsibilities and FAQ document has been posted. Agencies that qualify for an exemption can find a new exemption form for calendar year 2026 on the website. 

 

HHAs participating in the HHCAHPS Survey should follow up with their approved survey vendor to make sure that the vendor submits data files well in advance of each quarterly data submission deadline.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) held its most recent Home Health, Hospice and DME Open Door Forum on Wednesday, April 3. In this article, NAHC summarizes the forum content relevant to hospice.

 

CMS reviewed the provisions of the FY2025 hospice proposed rule. Provisions include a proposed base payment rate update of 2.6%, revisions to the Core Based Statistical Area (CBSA) designations, implementation of the HOPE (Hospice Outcomes & Patient Evaluation) tool and other updates to the quality reporting program, some clarifying regulation text around which physicians are able to certify hospice services and the election statement and NOE. 

 

There are also two RFI (Requests for Information). See NAHC Report for a detailed summary.