CMS proposes payment increase for hospices in FY 2025

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services March 28 issued a proposed rule to update hospice payment rates for fiscal year 2025. CMS proposes a 2.6% ($705 million) net increase to payments compared with FY 2024. This includes a 3.0% market basket update, a 0.4 percentage point cut for productivity, and an annual payment cap per patient of $34,364.85. CMS also proposes to adopt the most recent Office of Management and Budget statistical area delineations, which would affect the geographic wage index. In addition, the rule proposes to adopt and implement a patient-level data collection tool to replace the existing Hospice Item Set and to add two new process measures beginning in FY 2028. CMS will accept comments on the rule through May 28.