CMS Updates Medicare Payment Policies for Several Types of Healthcare Providers

Categories: Policy.

On July 31, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized three Medicare payment rules that further advance our efforts to strengthen the Medicare program by better aligning payments for inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF), skilled nursing facilities (SNF) and hospices.

For Hospices

For FY 2021, hospice payment rates are updated by the market basket percentage increase of 2.4 percent ($540 million). Hospices that fail to meet quality reporting requirements receive a 2 percentage point reduction to the annual market basket percentage increase for the year. The hospice payment system includes a statutory aggregate cap. The aggregate cap limits the overall payments made to a hospice annually. The final hospice cap amount for the FY 2021 cap year is $30,683.93, which is equal to the FY 2020 cap amount ($29,964.78) updated by the final FY 2021 hospice payment update percentage of 2.4 percent.

CMS offers a fact sheet for hospices PPS — https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/fact-sheets/fiscal-year-2021-hospice-payment-rate-update-final-rule-cms-1733-f.

Note:  The FY2021 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update Final Rule was published in the Federal Register on August 4 (after being posted on the public inspection page on July 31).

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