Protect Hospice Payments and Access to End-of-Life Care!

From NHPCO

As you may have seen, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a draft rule in April which proposes updates to the hospice wage index, payment rates, and aggregate cap amount for the coming fiscal year. For the hospice payment update percentage for Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), CMS is only proposing an increase of 2.7%.
 
We know that hospices around the country have been facing unprecedented challenges and heightened costs over the last few years, with no real respite in sight. New data released today showed a historically high inflation rate of 9.1% in June. Energy prices, including gas, are up 41.6% for the year, the largest 12-month increase since April 1980. We know this hits hospices particularly hard, as staff drive to patients to meet their needs at home. 

This 2.7% proposal by CMS fails to acknowledge the reality that many hospices are experiencing. Additionally, hospices are now facing a 2% Medicare payment reduction due to the sequestration cut that went into effect on July 1. All of this means that hospices are effectively facing a payment cut and being asked to do less with more.

[NHPCO] and HAN sent a letter joined by several other organizations to Congressional leadership, urging them to call on CMS to provide a more appropriate hospice payment rate increase in their FY23 final rule. 

This proposal by CMS could have detrimental consequences. It may force some hospices to close and jeopardize access to necessary, high quality end-of-life care for individuals who need it. As a hospice and palliative care advocate, we need your help to raise the alarm about this. 

[Please] take a minute to complete our action alert: https://www.hospiceactionnetwork.org/take-action/#/66

Employee Retention Credit (ERC) Webinar

This Wednesday, July 20th at 2:00 p.m. the Home Care and Hospice Association of Colorado is partnering with RoundPeg to provide a 30 minute informational webinar discussing the Employee Retention Credit (ERC).

Google Meet joining info.

Video call link: https://meet.google.com/yie-qmja-yxa

Or dial: ‪(US) +1 435-893-6102 PIN: ‪840 649 482#

Paradigm Senior Services

Did you know:

• VA reimbursements rates for Homemaker/HHA and Respite are $29.76 in Utah
• VA invoices are now paid by TriWest in less than 3 weeks
• The VA usually authorizes between 6 and 16 hours of care per week, but they could go up to 168 hours per week. 
• The standard VA referral is valid for 1 year and can be renewed indefinitely. 
• The VA Community Care Network, while once overlooked, has become a vital part of providing care to veterans throughout our communities

There has been a lot of talk about one of HHAC's newest Allied Partners, Paradigm, in the home care industry. Thousands of providers already using Paradigm have seen terrific results in streamlining and growing their businesses. 

But who and what is Paradigm?

Paradigm provides an all-encompassing support platform for providers who work with the VA, Medicaid, and other 3rd party payers. By streamlining your operations, automating your billing, diversifying your payer lines, and collecting your outstanding AR, Paradigm helps you grow your business.

• · Are you struggling to submit error-free billing?
• · Are you spending too much time on denied claims and resubmissions?
• · Are you struggling to stay on top of regulatory changes?
• · Are you getting nowhere trying to get into the VA’s Community Care Network?
• · Are you struggling to recover any outstanding VA accounts receivables?
• · Are you confused about shifting EVV requirements?

Paradigm can help! 

If you’d like to learn more, click here to set up a time with one of Paradigm’s experts or contact Matt Hecht, Director of Provider Network, directly at email ([email protected]) or phone (786) 579-1900. 

Senate Democrats Encounter Obstacles in Final Sprint

The Hill | BY ALEXANDER BOLTON - 07/12/22
 
Senate Democrats in a sprint to accomplish as much as they can before the August recess and the start of the fall midterm campaigns are already getting tripped up by a series of unexpected problems. 
 
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced progress over the July 4 recess in negotiations with centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on a long-delayed budget reconciliation package, but an aide to Manchin last week cautioned a deal is still not close.  
 
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is holding up a vote on a China competitiveness bill, while legislation to cap insulin prices is coming under fire from Republicans.  
 
Health absences in the caucus are also tripping up the party, complicating votes in the 50-50 Senate.
 
It all sets up a chaotic and challenging homestretch sprint before lawmakers turn to full campaign mode. 
 
Senate Republican Whip John Thune (S.D.) on Monday predicted that the Democratic absences would limit the chamber’s agenda this week.  
 
Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Monday announced he had tested positive for COVID-19 and will work remotely this week, missing an expected vote on President Biden’s nominee to head the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Steve Dettelbach.  
 
The announcement came less than 24 hours after Schumer announced that he too has tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss votes this week.  
 
“They’re not going to have votes to do anything but bipartisan noms [nominees],” Thune said.
 
“It’s going to be tough for the Democrats to manage any kind of agenda that doesn’t entail moving executive branch noms that have broad bipartisan support, so to me it should be a week where we wind up early,” he added.  
 
The absences put Dettelbach’s nomination on a razor’s edge, as only two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins (Maine) and Rob Portman (Ohio), voted to discharge Dettelbach out of the Senate Judiciary Committee.  
 
A third Democratic senator, 82-year-old Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), is recovering from surgery after falling and breaking his hip last month. A spokesman for Leahy, however, said his boss will be available to vote on Dettelbach or any other issue if needed. 
 
“Senator Leahy’s recovery and physical therapy are proceeding well and he expects to be available for votes this week if necessary,” said Leahy spokesman David Carle.   
 
If Collins and Portman both vote to confirm Dettelbach, there would need to be five Democratic absences for Republicans to defeat him, but it remains to be seen whether their votes on a procedural discharge petition mean they’re willing to help speed him through the Senate while Schumer is still trying to negotiate a partisan reconciliation bill.  
 
McConnell warned over the recess that he would hold up the final version of the China legislation, known as the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act (USICA), unless Democrats stopped trying to move a reconciliation measure through the chamber with just Democratic votes. 
 
The GOP leader doubled down on his threat Monday, warning that “party-line scheming” on the budget reconciliation bill that would include hundreds of billions of dollars in tax increases would bring Senate business to a halt. 

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