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Congress and federal agencies have been examining the prospect of adjusting – or overhauling – hospice reimbursement systems.
This is based on introduced pieces of legislation and a series of government reports from agencies like the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG). The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has also chimed in.
This represents a larger trend in the federal government, Katie Wehri, vice president of policy, quality and compliance for the National Alliance for Care at Home said. Wehri made these remarks during a session at the Alliance’s Annual Conference.
“As we continue to talk about payment reform and benefit reform, you’re going to see this theme not just at the congressional level, but with CMS and other oversight bodies who have this strong interest in modernizing the entire benefit,” Wehri said. “It’s not just changes to the payment structure. We’re talking about changes to the hospice program itself, such as how care is delivered, where respite care can be delivered.”