OK, we're down to the wire now.
The deadline to comment on the 2017 Home Health Proposed Rule is Friday, August 26, at 11:59 P.M. Eastern Time.
Read the Executive Summary below, then follow this link to get the particulars on what interests or concerns you most. Time is short, and the industry is too fragile to miss this opportunity to be heard. As of Wednesday, public comments totaled only 10!
I've bolded key words for your convenience in the rule's executive summary below:
This proposed rule would update the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) payment rates, including the national, standardized 60-day episode payment rates, the national per-visit rates, and the non-routine medical supply (NRS) conversion factor, effective for home health episodes of care ending on or after January 1, 2017. This proposed rule also: Implements the last year of the 4-year phase-in of the rebasing adjustments to the HH PPS payment rates; updates the HH PPS case-mix weights using the most current, complete data available at the time of rulemaking; implements the 2nd-year of a 3-year phase-in of a reduction to the national, standardized 60-day episode payment to account for estimated case-mix growth unrelated to increases in patient acuity (that is, nominal case-mix growth) between CY 2012 and CY 2014; proposes changes to the methodology used to calculate outlier payments (with regards to payments made under the HH PPS for high-cost “outlier” episodes of care (that is, episodes of care with unusual variations in the type or amount of medically necessary care)); proposes changes in payment for Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) performed using a disposable device for patient's under a home health plan of care; discusses our efforts to monitor the potential impacts of the rebasing adjustments mandated; includes an update on subsequent research and analysis as a result of the findings from the home health study; solicits comments on a potential process for grouping HH PPS claims centrally during claims processing; and proposes changes to the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, which was implemented on January 1, 2016; and proposes updates to the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP). Read more . . .