Memo outlines Medicaid hospice payment rates for 2016 fiscal year

A Sept. 1 memorandum details next year’s Medicaid hospice payment rates. The Medicaid rates reflect the major payment changes involving routine home care that CMS made under the final 2016 Medicare hospice rule.

 

Beginning Jan. 1, Medicaid will pay $187.08 per day for a patient’s first 60 days in routine home care. Beyond 60 days of care, Medicaid will pay $147.02 per day.

 

The memo was sent to associate regional administrators in the Division of Medicaid from a deputy director at the Centers for Medicaid and CHIP Services.

 

“By law Medicaid hospice payments are calculated using Medicare rates for the applicable time period, although there are minor differences in the payment rates,” the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) notes on its website. “States have the flexibility to pay hospice programs higher rates than these minimums set by CMS.”