Equipment; Proposed Rule
On July 27, 2006, CMS proposed a 3.1 percent increase in Medicare payment rates to home health agencies for calendar year 2007. The proposed increase would bring an estimated extra $420 million in payments to home health agencies next year. As part of this proposed rule, CMS is proposing pay-for-reporting provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. In addition, CMS proposed changes to Medicare payment for oxygen equipment and capped rental durable medical equipment (DME) due to the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.
CORRECTION: It has been discovered that technical errors existed in Table 4 of the display version of CMS-1304-P "Medicare Program; Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update for Calendar Year 2007 and Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 Changes to Medicare Payment for Oxygen Equipment and Capped Rental DME; Proposed Rule." The proposed CY 2007 per-visit amounts in column two of Table 4 inadvertently did not reflect the correct figures as noted in column 4 of Table 2. However, the proposed CY 2007 per-visit payment amounts per discipline for 60-day episodes beginning in CY 2006 and ending in CY 2007 for a beneficiary who resides in a non-MSA area were correct in Table 4 of the display version of this rule, with exception being that the payment rate for a home health aide visit should be $48.46 versus what was in the display version of this rule, which was $48.45. See CMS-1304-P below for the final, published version from the Federal Register.