CMS-1672-F

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule (CMS-1672-F) that updates the Medicare Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) rates and wage index for calendar year (CY) 2018. CMS projects that Medicare payments to HHAs in CY 2018 will be reduced by 0.4 percent, or $80 million, based on the finalized policies. This decrease reflects the effects of a 1 percent home health payment update percentage ($190 million increase); a -0.97 percent adjustment to the national, standardized 60-day episode payment rate to account for nominal case-mix growth for an impact of -0.9 percent ($170 million decrease); and the sunset of the rural add-on provision for an impact of -0.5 percent ($100 million decrease). The rule also finalizes proposals for the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model and the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP). CMS is not finalizing the implementation of the Home Health Groupings Model (HHGM) in this final rule. The agency received many comments from the public that it would like to take into further consideration.