Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare Releases New Detailed Analysis Of Spending On Hospice Care
Modern Healthcare: CMS Posts Hospice Payment Data. But How Reliable Is It?
In 2014, Medicare spent more than $15 billion on hospice care for 1.3 million of its beneficiaries. More precise breakdowns of where those dollars went, however, have not always been publicly available. A new data set the CMS released Thursday is likely to change that, even as some raise concerns about the accessibility and reliability of other spending data provided by the agency. The Hospice Utilization and Payment Public Use File contains privacy-protected information on the services of 4,015 hospice providers to Medicare beneficiaries. (Whitman, 10/6)
The Hill: Providers: Too Soon To Expand Medicare Bundled Payment Models
Hospital and nursing home advocates say a new Medicare payment model for heart attack patients should be halted until more evidence that it will work is available. The comment period for a proposed rule establishing a cardiac payment bundle and expanding a hip replacement model closed Monday. Advocates claim CMS hasn’t gauged the success of the knee and hip replacement model, before duplicating it for cardiac patients. The rule would also expand the joint replacement model, which launched in April, to include hip and femur fracture treatment. (Ayala, 10/6)
