CMS-1611-F

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule CMS-1611-F to update Medicare's HH PPS payment rates and wage index for CY 2015. As required by Section 3131(a) of the Affordable Care Act, this rule implements the second year of the four-year phase-in of the rebasing adjustments. Payments to home health agencies (HHAs) are estimated to decrease by approximately 0.30 percent, or -$60 million in CY 2015. This rule also finalizes changes to: simplify the face-to-face encounter regulatory requirements; update the HH PPS case-mix weights; revise the home health quality reporting program requirements; simplify the therapy reassessment timeframes; revise the Speech-Language Pathology (SLP) personnel qualifications; and limit the reviewability of the civil monetary penalty provisions. Lastly, this final rule also discusses Medicare coverage of insulin injections under the HH PPS, the delay in the implementation of ICD-10-CM, and a HH value-based purchasing (HH VBP) model.