The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services wants to permanently limit annual hospice wage index adjustments to reduce payments by more than 5% from the previous year.

“We are proposing a policy to improve the predictability of provider hospice payments and mitigate the destabilizing and significant negative impacts on providers caused by changes in the wage index,” said one proposed rule Posted Wednesday. Medicare adjusts hospice payments using a wage index that reflects geographic differences.

CMS is also proposing to increase hospice costs by 2.7% in fiscal 2023, which would result in an additional $580 million in reimbursement. Hospice providers will be limited to $32,142.65 per patient.

A developing story…