CMS proposed payment rule follows a call for new oversight of hospice provider fraud.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed a 2.4% payment increase for hospice providers for 2027.
This is an estimated increase of $785 million in payments from 2026, according to CMS.
The payment is the result of a proposed 3.2% inpatient hospital market basket percentage increase reduced, as required by law, by a proposed 0.8 percentage point productivity adjustment, CMS said.
Hospices that do not submit the required quality data would see a decrease of 4 percentage points, as required by law, which would result in a 1.6% reduction over the previous year’s payment rate.
Comments on the proposed rule are due by June 1.
Leading Age is a nonprofit community of aging services providers. Linda Couch, SVP Policy, LeadingAge, said by statement, “Given today’s uncertain economic environment, and the increased costs in critical categories including food, energy and wages, the modest 2.4% proposed payment rate boost announced late yesterday by CMS is cause for concern.”
CMS proposed payment rule follows a call for new oversight of hospice provider fraud.