Nation’s Capital Developments

Staying Current 

Ohio Congressman Steve LaTourette (OH-14) Visits Hospice of the Western Reserve’s David Simpson Hospice House and Meets with Patient and Family

March 12, 2012 – Ohio Congressman Steve LaTourette representing the 14th Congressional District met with Hospice of the Western Reserve’s Chief Executive Officer, Bill Finn and Government Relations Manager, Justin Reiter to discuss current issues affecting hospice providers and Hospice of the Western Reserve. The Congressman was briefed about the challanges hospice providers are facing related to regulatory and policy decisions made in Washington over the past several years. Providers are in the third year of ten year phased cuts that will see an overall 16 percent reduction to Medicare hospice reimbursment.

The Congressman has been a long supporter of Hospice of the Western Reserve was asked to co-sponsor HR 3506 the Hospice Evaluation and Legitimate Payment Act  introduced last fall by Congressmen Reed, Thompson and Paulsen. We believe this legislation is a good step towards protecting the hospice benefit an issue the Congressman has supported in the past as a co-sponsor of the 2008 Medicare Hospice Protection Act (HR 6873)

During his visit, Congressman LaTourette met with Mrs. Caroline Rackovan and her family. This was a great opportunity for the Congressman to speak directly with the patient and family and learn about the care she is receiving from Hospice of the Western Reserve.

Hospice of the Western Reserve appreciates the continued support of our elected officials.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) releases 2012 Work Plan

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Work Plan for FY 2012 provides a brief description of new and ongoing reviews and activities that OIG plans to pursue with respect to HHS programs and operations during the next 12 months and beyond.  

Click here to read the complete OIG Work Plan 

It’s Time for Congress to HELP Hospice!

Click here to send a letter to Congress

The hospice community is facing unprecedented federal reimbursment and regulatory changes. To address these changes, hospice advocates are rallying in support of the Hospice Evaluation and Legitimate Payment Act (HELP Hospice Act). Introduced in the House of Representatives by Representatives Reed, Thompson and Paulsen (HR 3506) and in the Senate by Senators Wyden and Roberts (S. 722), these bipartisan bills would (1) require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a payment reform demonstration program to test and evaluate any prospective payment revisions to hospice; (2) increase hospice survey frequency to every 3 years; and (3) amend the new face-to-face encounter requirement to reflect operational realities for hospice programs, and the needs of the patients and families they serve.

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) has made available a resource allowing us to send Members of Congress electronic letters urging their support of the HELP Hospice Act. It is critical that our elected officials are made aware of our support of the Hospice Benefit and the need to protect hospice care.

Please click here  to send your electronic letter urging support of the HELP Hospice Act.

Learn about issues impacting hospice and become an advocate:

Hospice Action Network – Legislative Issues Impacting Hospice

Hospice Action Network – Legislative Action Center

House Bill Introduced To Recognize PAs as Attending Physicians S. 891/H.R. 3831 : Nebraska Republican Rep. Lee Terry has introduced H.R. 3831, legislation that would allow physicians assistants to service as a Medicare hospice patient’s “attending physician” if caring for the patient at the time the hospice benefit was elected. Similar legislation, S. 891, was introduced in the Senate last May by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, and currently has nine cosponsors. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., co-sponsored the House measure.  Physician assistants would not be able to determine terminally illness eligibility for the Medicare hospice benefit. In 2003 legislation recognizing nurse practitioners as attending physicians for hospice patients was enacted. Separate legislation is required to allow hospices to use PAs to conduct required face-to-face encounters with patients entering their third or later hospice benefit period. – (source Midwest Care Alliance)

 MedPAC Approves a reccomendation to Congress for a Hospice Update for FY2013: The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) this week approved a recommendation for a 0.5 percent hospice update for fiscal year (FY) 2013. The move was expected based on the panel’s discussions at its December meeting. The recommendations will be formally submitted to Congress as part of its annual March report. MedPAC’s recommendations frequently guide Medicare payment decisions made by Congress. In addition to the 0.5 percent update recommendation, MedPAC approved the reprinting of two prior recommendations -

• Increase payments per day at the beginning of the episode and reduce payments per day as the length of the episode increases;

• Provide an additional end-of-episode payment to reflect hospices’ higher level of effort at the end of life;

• Budget neutral in first year.

• Recommendation for focused medical review of hospices with many long stay patients.

Slides prepared by MedPAC staff are available. To access the document, click here. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is currently phasing out the budget neutrality adjustment factor (BNAF) to the hospice wage index; in FY2013 the phase out will reduce payments, on average, by 0.6 percent. If the Congress approves MedPAC’s recommendation to limit the hospice market basket update to 0.5 percent, the combined impact of the 0.5 percent market basket update and the BNAF phase out for FY2013 would yield an overall net reduction in hospice payments of 0.1 percent. MedPAC did not have formal discussions on home health as part of its January meeting, but in December the Commission approved a plan to reprint recommendations from its March 2011 report to Congress on home health in its forthcoming report2011 – (source Midwest Care Alliance)

Facts and Figures: Hospice Care in America: NHPCO announced the release of the 2011 Edition of their annual report, Facts and Figures: Hospice Care in America. The 2011 edition of Facts & Figures was produced with data from state health and hospice associations, the Medicare Provider of Service file from CMS, and provider member submissions to our annual National Data Set survey. Facts and Figures provide an overview of trends in growth, delivery, and quality of hospice care at the national level. A wide variety of statistics related to patient and provider characteristics are presented, as well as information on length of service, location and level of care, and staff and volunteer commitment. Two new additions to the 2011 edition include sections on hospice use by Medicare hospice beneficiaries and those within the nursing home population. Also new is an appendix that details the accuracy of NHPCO’s national estimates. The report is available by clicking here.  – (source Midwest Care Alliance)

 

 

 

Interested in identifying your elected officials in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate? Click here to access the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organizations’ (NHPCO) Legislative Action Center. It is a powerful tool to help advocates identify and contact their elected officials. By telling our legislators about the challenges associate with end-of-life care, we can individually make a tremendous difference.

If you have questions about Hospice of the Western Reserve's public policy activities, please contact:

Justin Reiter
Government Relations Manager
phone: 216.502.4459
fax: 216.231.8291
email: jreiter@hospicewr.org
17876 Euclid Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44110