Medicare per diem reimbursement rates for hospices will increase by 1 percent, or $160 million, in fiscal year 2014, according to a final rule issued by CMS.
The rule takes into account a 2.5 percent market basket update. It also reflects various reductions, including 0.1 percentage points for updated wage data, 0.5 percentage points for productivity, 0.3 percentage points required by law and 0.6 percentage points for the fifth year of CMS' seven-year process of phasing out the hospice wage index budget-neutrality adjustment factor.
The final rule also clarifies diagnosis reporting on hospice claims, stating that hospice providers must report all coexisting and/or additional diagnoses related to a patient's terminal illness in order to comply with existing policies and provide data needed for evaluating potential hospice payment reform strategies.
Additionally, the rule changes the hospice quality reporting program requirements by replacing currently reported quality measures with new measures endorsed by the National Quality Forum, starting July 1, 2014. The rule also enacts a hospice experience of care survey beginning Jan. 1, 2015.
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