Hospice proposed rule includes payment rate increase

Hospices will see a payment increase in October, according to the FY 2024 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update proposed rule.

 

The proposed rule was released late Friday, March 31, 2023, for public inspection and is expected to be published in the Federal Register on April 4, 2023.

 

The proposed hospice payment update percentage for FY 2024 is 2.8%, or an estimated increase of $720 million, according to CMS. The proposed aggregate cap per patient would be $33,396.55, up from the FY 2022 cap of $32,486.92. These numbers may change before the final rule is released this summer.

 

CMS' planned hospice special focus program (SFP) for poor-performing hospices will be included in the 2024 Home Health Prospective Payment Update Rate proposed rule. Results from the SFP Technical Expert Panel is expected to be published online in April, according to CMS.

 

In the proposed rule, CMS also solicits comments on increasing access to higher levels of hospice care; its analysis of non-hospice spending during a hospice election; ownership transparency; hospice election decision-making; and ways to examine health equity under the hospice benefit.

 

There also are updates on the Hospice Outcomes & Patient Evaluation (HOPE) patient assessment instrument and health equity as it relates to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program.