Medicare Program; FY 2025 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update, Hospice Conditions of Participation Updates, and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements

Medicare Program; FY 2025 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update, Hospice Conditions of Participation Updates, and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements 
Federal Register; A Proposed Rule by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on 4/4/24
This document has a comment period that ends in 53 days, 5/28/24.
This proposed rule would update the hospice wage index, payment rates, and aggregate cap amount for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025. This rule proposes changes to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program. This rule also proposes to adopt the most recent Office of Management and Budget statistical area delineations, which would change the hospice wage index. This rule proposes to clarify current policy related to the “election statement” and the “notice of election”, as well as to add clarifying language regarding hospice certification. Finally, this rulemaking solicits comments regarding potential implementation of a separate payment mechanism to account for high intensity palliative care services.