Home Health & Hospice Week

Will a copay make it onto the commission's influential to-do list for Congress? The fate of your Medicare reimbursement may rest on decisions made this week in Washington, D.C. In its Jan. 13-14 meeting, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's 17 members will vote on five recommendations for home health agency payment (see box, this page). One of the recommendations unveiled in December's meeting urges Congress to institute a home health copay. The copay was the topic of intense discussion. MedPAC staff recommended a per-episode, rather than per-visit, copay. "Given the incentive that providers have to deliver more episodes, a per episode copay seems most appropriate," MedPAC staffer Evan Christman said in the meeting. Instead of the 20 percent copay required in other parts of Medicare, a copay of 10 percent per episode might work better, Christman suggested. That would put the payment at $300 for the average episode that pays [...]