From King & Spalding, by Kate Karpenko:
The CMS has issued a proposed rule for fiscal year 2025 to update Medicare hospice payments and aggregate cap amount, which includes a 2.6% increase in payments and an updated aggregate cap of $34,364.85. The proposal also introduces changes to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP), including the addition of two new measures and the use of the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool for patient data collection. It also suggests changes to the Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Survey, including a web-mail mode and a simplified survey. Technical changes are proposed to the Conditions of Participation (CoPs) to clarify language around the roles of a medical director and physician designee. Stakeholders are encouraged to submit comments on the proposed rule by May 28, 2024.