The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2025 Hospice Proposed Rule (CMS-1810-P). The comment period for the rule is currently set to expire on May 28, 2024. Homecare Homebase has compiled a brief summary of the information found in the proposed rule, along with links to helpful tools.
2025 Hospice Proposed Rule Resources Provided by CMS
2025 Hospice Proposed Rule – At a Glance
Here is a brief list of some of the items included in this year’s proposed rule. Organizations are encouraged to explore the full rule in detail to determine how the potential updates could affect their business. The proposed rule:
- Proposes an FY 2025 hospice payment increase of 2.6%
- Proposes to begin collecting HOPE patient-level data on or after October 1, 2025, which would replace the existing Hospice Item Set (HIS)
- Proposes two new quality process measures based on HOPE data, including ‘Timely Reassessment of Pain Impact’ and ‘Timely Reassessment of Non-Pain Symptom Impact’ – implementation of these measures would begin in FY 2028
- Proposes updates to the hospice wage index, payment rates, and cap amount ($34,364.85)
- Proposes to adopt new OMB labor market delineations based on data collected from the 2020 Decennial Census
- Proposes clarifying regulation text changes, with no changes to current policy; includes reorganizing the regulations to clearly identify the distinction between the “election statement” and the “notice of election,” as well as including clarifying text changes that align payment regulations and Conditions of Participation (CoPs) regarding who may certify terminal illness and determine admission to hospice care
- Proposes changes to the CAHPS Hospice Survey, including the addition of a web-mail mode survey option
- Discusses updates to potential future quality measures
- Includes an RFI on a potential policy to account for higher hospice costs involved in the provision of high intensity palliative care treatments
HCHB is committed to helping our clients successfully navigate the complexities associated with regulatory and industry changes. Every year, the proposed and final rules for Hospice and Home Health are analyzed by The HCHB Product Management team to plan for needed changes to the software. In addition, HCHB Analytics users receive access to the FY 2025 Hospice Revenue Impact Model. This dashboard reflects the potential affects the proposed rule may have on a user’s organization.
