CMS to cut Medicare payments to home health agencies by 1.4%, amount lower than first planned
CMS also said it adjusted the maximum payment cut tied to its value-based purchasing program to 3% instead of the 5% it pitched earlier.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Thursday lowered the amount it plans to cut payments to home health agencies to $260 million compared the $350 million it proposed earlier this year.
Medicare payments to home health companies will drop by 1.4 percent for fiscal 2016. The final rate represents 1.9 percent increase in payments, a 0.9 percent cut tied to the national, standardized 60-day episode payment rate and the slated 2.4 percent cut tied to rebasing, a four-year reduction in Medicare payments established by CMS to lower its spending. Fiscal 2016 represents the third year of the phased rebasing cuts.
CMS also said it adjusted the maximum payment cut tied to its value-based purchasing program to 3 percent instead of the 5 percent it pitched earlier this year.
This will be the first year CMS applies a value-based payment model to home health agencies, dubbed the Home Health Quality Reporting Program, which will be tested in Washington, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Maryland, Florida, Arizona, Iowa, Tennessee and Nebraska.
The payment cuts are indented to account for a rise in case-mix claims between 2012 and 2014, CMS said.
CMS on Thursday also said it will raise the rate it pays dialysis providers by 0.2 percent, slightly less than the 0.3 percent increase pitched earlier this year.
Here is the full final rule:
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