A draft version of the Hospice Care Accountability, Reform and Enforcement (Hospice CARE) Act has been released Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon, and industry advocates say they’re encouraged by this new effort to address concerns about program integrity.
The National Association for Home Care & Hospice noted that, as drafted, the act would increase survey frequency for new hospices, create coverage for in-home respite services and require medical review contractors to have specialized knowledge and training in hospice.
“NAHC has been proud to work closely with Congressman Blumenauer and other bipartisan members of Congress over the last few years on hospice program integrity issues,” said NAHC President William A Dombi. “We’ve been good-faith partners and advocates for commonsense, targeted reforms that will make it harder for bad actors to infiltrate the Medicare hospice program and exploit vulnerable individuals and caregivers. While we appreciate that this draft legislation can help support broader conversations about how best to improve the hospice program for all Americans, we want to make sure the proposed policies don’t unduly burden hospices following the rules and delivering quality care, and jeopardize timely access to care for the sickest among us. We will work with our members and partners to gather detailed feedback on the draft, and look forward to providing input to help inform legislation that recognizes the value hospice brings to patients, communities, and taxpayers.”
LeadingAge President and CEO Katie Smith Sloan said the hospice benefit is “primed for change.”
“In addition to including important provisions that will help to identify fraud and abuse in a timely manner as well as preclude illicit business formation by fraudulent providers, this bill also includes LeadingAge priorities focused on better targeting of program-integrity resources, improvements to auditor education and increased transparency into the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulatory practices around audits,” she says.