This month MedPAC started discussions around reforming the hospice inpatient and aggregate cap calculations, and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced it also will review these calculations.
 
The two caps on payment were formed by the statute authorizing the Medicare hospice benefit. The payments are designed to control overall spending and help improve savings by using hospice over curative care at the end of life.
 
The inpatient cap put a limit on the overall annual percent of inpatient care days that a hospice may receive payment for up to 20% of total days billed.
 
The aggregate cap charges an overall aggregate limit on the amount of Medicare patients received based on the number of patients it has on service and the length of time the patients have received hospice care. The fiscal year 2020 aggregate cap is $29,965.
 
Related link: View the OIG announcement at http://bit.ly/2BKbzF3.