Health and Human Services Department, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
This proposed rule would update the hospice payment rates and the wage index for fiscal year (FY) 2016, including implementing the last year of the phase-out of the wage index budget neutrality adjustment factor (BNAF). This proposed rule also discusses recent hospice payment reform research and analyses and proposes to differentiate payments for routine home care (RHC) based on the beneficiary's length of stay and to implement a service intensity add- on (SIA) payment for services provided in the last 7 days of a beneficiary's life, if certain criteria are met. In addition, this rule would implement changes to the aggregate cap calculation mandated by the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act), align the cap accounting year for both the inpatient cap and the hospice aggregate cap with the federal fiscal year starting in FY 2017, make changes to the hospice quality reporting program, and would include a clarification regarding diagnosis reporting on the hospice claim.
Document Headings Document headings vary by document type but may contain the following: the agency or agencies that issued and signed a document the number of the CFR title and the number of each part the document amends, proposes to amend, or is directly related to the agency docket number / agency internal file number the RIN which identifies each regulatory action listed in the Unified Agenda of Federal Regulatory and Deregulatory Actions See the Document Drafting Handbook for more details. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 42 CFR Part 418 [CMS-1629-P] RIN 0938-AS39 AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS. ACTION: Proposed rule. SUMMARY: This proposed rule would update the hospice payment rates and the wage index for fiscal year (FY) 2016, including implementing the last year of the phase-out of the wage index budget neutrality adjustment factor (BNAF). This proposed rule also discusses recent hospice payment reform research and analyses and proposes to differentiate payments for routine home care (RHC) based on the beneficiary's length of stay and to implement a service intensity add-on (SIA) payment for services provided in the last 7 days of a beneficiary's life, if certain criteria are met. In addition, this rule would implement changes to the aggregate cap calculation mandated by the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act), align the cap accounting year for both the inpatient cap and the hospice aggregate cap with the federal fiscal year starting in FY 2017, make changes to the hospice quality reporting program, and would include a clarification regarding diagnosis reporting on the hospice claim. DATES: To be assured consideration, comments must be received at one of the addresses provided below, no later than 5 p.m. on June 29, 2015. ADDRESSES: In commenting, please refer to file code CMS-1629-P. Because of staff and resource limitations, we cannot…
Citation: 80 FR 25832
