Category: Press Release

For Immediate Release
July 12, 2023

(Alexandria, VA) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and its advocacy affiliate, the Hospice Action Network (HAN) are pleased to support the reintroduction of the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act (PCHETA) in the U.S. Senate. This bipartisan legislation (S. 2243) would meet the growing demand for serious-illness care by investing in training, education, and research for the palliative care and hospice workforce.

The bill has been introduced by Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV). This bill is also co-sponsored by Senators Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Jack Reed (D-RI), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), John Boozman (R-AR), Roger Marshall (R-KS), Maria Cantwell (D-WA), and Angus King (I-ME).

“Having served as my grandmother’s primary caregiver, I know the difference quality palliative and hospice care can make for a loved one who is battling a serious illness,” said Senator Baldwin. “Our bipartisan Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act will make an overdue investment in education and research to ensure doctors, nurses, and health care professionals have the tools they need as they work tirelessly to keep patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses comfortable and safe. This legislation will help more Americans get the training they need to provide palliative care, help strengthen our health care workforce, and also ensure those with serious illness get the care they deserve.”

“The need for high quality palliative and hospice care services—which are vital for patients and their families—continues to grow, making passage of our bill needed now more than ever,” said Senator Capito. “As a caregiver for parents that suffered from Alzheimer’s disease, I saw firsthand just how valuable these services can be. In order to preserve access to this care, our bill would strengthen training and education opportunities for individuals working in these fields. I look forward to working with Senator Baldwin and my colleagues in the Senate to pass this legislation.”

Palliative and hospice care focus on improving patients’ quality of life and relieving suffering from serious illnesses and pain management. Findings from a recent study on the Value of Hospice Care, by NORC at the University of Chicago, show that at any length of stay, palliative and hospice care benefits patients, family members, and caregivers, including enhanced quality of life, increased satisfaction, reduced physical and emotional distress, improved pain control.

“Every American facing a serious or life-limiting illness deserves access to quality hospice and palliative care. We desperately need to train more professionals in the field of palliative medicine. Without efforts to address the existing workforce shortage, there will be only one palliative physician for every 26,000 seriously ill patients by 2030,” said COO and interim CEO of National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, Ben Marcantonio. “Thank you to Senators Baldwin and Capito for your leadership in reintroducing the Palliative Care and Hospice Education and Training Act.”

PCHETA is a critical next step in training and education to address the healthcare workforce crisis as the American population continues to age.

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About NHPCO
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is the nation’s largest and oldest membership association for providers who care for people affected by serious and life-limiting illness. Our members deliver and expand access to high-quality, person-centered interdisciplinary care to millions of Americans. NHPCO provides education and resources to support that mission. Together with our advocacy partner, the Hospice Action Network (HAN), we serve as the leading voice advancing public policy to improve serious-illness and end-of-life care, while our CaringInfo program provides free resources to educate and empower patients and caregivers. nhpco.org

Press Contact:
Madison Summers
NHPCO Communications
Ph: 571-412-3973

For Immediate Release
July 10, 2023

(Alexandria, VA) – CaringInfo.org, a program of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), is a consumer-focused website that offers information on a breadth of topics related to serious illness and end-of-life care. The mission of CaringInfo is to empower patients and caregivers to make decisions about the care and services they wish to receive.

While hospice and palliative care are often provided in the home, they can also be provided in many other settings, including assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and skilled nursing facilities. To help consumers navigate an often-complex care environment, CaringInfo now offers information on Finding Care Outside of the Home, a new resource that guides patients and families through the questions they should consider when choosing the care that is right for them.

CaringInfo currently provides information on topics including the services provided with hospice care, the differences between hospice and palliative care, the benefits of advance care planning and how to get started, and financial matters to consider and plan for at the end of life. CaringInfo also offers a regularly updated library of each state’s advance directives, including tips for completing each form.

“Serious-illness care continues to be a part of the national conversation, most recently with former President Jimmy Carter’s courageous decision to publicly share his end-of-life journey,” said NHPCO Interim CEO, Ben Marcantonio. “Even as ‘hospice’ becomes a more commonly understood term, there are still many misconceptions that exist. Where hospice and serious illness care is provided, and which services can be used with the hospice benefit, are among the most frequently asked questions from prospective patients and their families.  ‘Finding Care Outside of the Home’ is a valuable resource that can be used in answering these questions and more.”

Visit CaringInfo.org, which is free and available to all, to explore the full site as well as the new content.

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About NHPCO

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is the nation’s largest and oldest membership association for providers who care for people affected by serious and life-limiting illness. Our members deliver and expand access to high-quality, person-centered interdisciplinary care to millions of Americans. NHPCO provides education and resources to support that mission. Together with our advocacy partner, the Hospice Action Network (HAN), we serve as the leading voice advancing public policy to improve serious-illness and end-of-life care, while our CaringInfo program provides free resources to educate and empower patients and caregivers. nhpco.org

Press Contact:
Madison Summers
NHPCO Communications
571-412-3973

For Immediate Release
June 28, 2023

(Alexandria, VA) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) has released the 2023 edition of the Pediatric Facts and Figures Report. The newest publication builds on previous versions and has been expanded with data obtained from a 2019-2020 national survey which includes a comprehensive view of pediatric hospice and palliative care across the United States, based on a wide-ranging needs assessment. Of note, section three includes a unique breakdown of service coverage by county and the type (non-metropolitan and metropolitan). This information can be valuable for program development, research, advocacy, and education.

“Pediatric palliative and hospice care in the United States started in the mid to late 1990s. Since then, providers have made much progress with expanding palliative care teams in most children’s hospitals and growing community-based programs in urban areas. However, there is still much to be done to afford children and their families equitable services and care,” said NHPCO’s Pediatric Facts & Figures Workgroup Chair, Dr. Christy Torkildson. “We hope this data will help stimulate a call to action for more research, education, and advocacy to afford children and their families the care and services they deserve when living with serious illness.”

“One key finding that stood out in this year’s report is that less than half of organizations who responded to the 2020 needs assessment have a dedicated pediatric team,” said NHPCO COO and interim CEO, Ben Marcantonio. “There is a wide-spread shortage of highly trained, pediatric palliative and hospice healthcare professionals in the workforce. This is a barrier to meeting the demands of the ever-growing pediatric palliative care needs. It is crucial to create both individual and group education opportunities to address any misperceptions about pediatric care.”

In total, over 481 hospice organizations from all 50 states plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico contributed to the NHPCO Pediatric Facts and Figures Report, 2023 Edition from their responses to the 2020 needs assessment. Additionally, the Journal of Palliative Medicine recently published the article “State of the Service: Pediatric Palliative and Hospice Community-Based Service Coverage in the United States.” This is based on the 2020 NHPCO Pediatric Needs Assessment and is a product of the NHPCO Pediatric Advisory Council. The article highlights the hospice and palliative care services provided to children, including the staff who provide care and the scope of services. Additionally, a map highlighting service coverage by county across the United States is included. For more information on pediatric hospice and palliative care, see NHPCO’s pediatric pages.

On July 13, NHPCO will host a webinar on Perilous Pediatric Pathways: The Intersection of Adult Hospice and Children. Using a case-based format, the interdisciplinary team will explore the differences and similarities compared to adults.

The Pediatric Facts and Figures, 2023 edition is online and available to the public through NHPCO’s website under “Pediatrics Professional Resources”.

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About NHPCO
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is the nation’s largest and oldest membership association for providers who care for people affected by serious and life-limiting illness. Our members deliver and expand access to high-quality, person-centered interdisciplinary care to millions of Americans. NHPCO provides education and resources to support that mission. Together with our advocacy partner, the Hospice Action Network (HAN), we serve as the leading voice advancing public policy to improve serious-illness and end-of-life care, while our CaringInfo program provides free resources to educate and empower patients and caregivers. nhpco.org

Press Contact:
Madison Summers
NHPCO Communications
Ph: 571-412-3973

For Immediate Release
June 21, 2023

(Alexandria, VA) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) published the following statement in response to a recent NBC News story on HCA Healthcare hospitals, suggesting that HCA hospitals may be inappropriately pushing patients toward hospice care. NHPCO is not in a position to comment on HCA specifically. On behalf of our member hospices NHPCO has raised concerns about hospitals pressuring hospices to admit patients in the last hours of life. In a recent comment letter, NHPCO included examples of hospital pressures on hospices and recommended that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) or its contractors “should publish specific and accessible guidance about the hospital mortality metric specifically for hospitals and hospices.”

The choice for end-of-life care is deeply personal and should be made by patients, in consultation with loved ones and medical personnel, with a thorough understanding of the prognosis, the various care options available, and the implications of each of those options.

Unfortunately, the NBC report works against the goal of public understanding of healthcare options by perpetuating myths about hospice. NHPCO seeks to clear up three of those myths here:

Myth: To discuss end-of-life needs or care is to “play God.”

Reality: Research consistently shows the vast majority of Americans would prefer to die at home. Yet, a large number don’t get that opportunity, because many medical professionals and systems are not adept at putting patient goals at the center of the care plan. Additionally, one of the main comments hospices receive from patients’ families is, “We only wish we had chosen hospice earlier.” Though the NBC News article never says directly that medical professionals should avoid talking with patients about end-of-life care options, it certainly risks putting a damper on those already very limited conversations, when in fact patients would benefit from the opposite. As a country, we should help medical professionals and facilities improve their capabilities for frank, open conversations with patients and their loved ones about prognosis and care options. By having those conversations effectively, and making referrals to community-based palliative care or hospice earlier, our health system could help more people spend their final days, weeks, or months at home, surrounded by loved ones, and achieving their goals. That is not playing God, it is giving patients what they deserve: complete information and the ability to make choices for themselves.

Myth: After entering end-of-life care, “patients don’t typically live long.”

Reality: The median length of stay in hospice care is 17 days and the average lifetime length of stay is 92.1 days, according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. By sharing information about his personal end-of-life journey, former President Carter has helped Americans understand this reality. President Carter entered hospice care in February 2023 and as of today has been on hospice for more than 4 months. To qualify for hospice under Medicare, a patient must have a prognosis of six months or less to live if the disease runs its normal course. Some patients can and do outlive their prognosis, and in those cases the patient can be recertified for continued hospice care. Study after study after study have shown that hospice patients tend to live longer than patients with similar diagnoses who do not choose hospice care. Research also shows that hospice care—at any length of stay—benefits patients, family members, and caregivers, including increased satisfaction and quality of life, improved pain control, reduced physical and emotional distress, and reduced prolonged grief and other emotional distress.

Myth: “Patients in hospice typically receive only pain medication.”

Reality: While pain management and symptom control are core to hospice care, patients are offered so much more. By definition, statute, and regulation, hospices provide interdisciplinary care driven by patient goals. Hospice patients receive care from a team that includes doctors, nurses, hospice aides, social workers, spiritual care providers, bereavement care professionals, and trained volunteers. Many hospices also supplement those requirements with support from additional experts, such as speech, physical, occupational, music, or art therapists, and/or end-of-life doulas.

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About NHPCO
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is the nation’s largest and oldest membership association for providers who care for people affected by serious and life-limiting illness. Our members deliver and expand access to high-quality, person-centered interdisciplinary care to millions of Americans. NHPCO provides education and resources to support that mission. Together with our advocacy partner, the Hospice Action Network (HAN), we serve as the leading voice advancing public policy to improve serious-illness and end-of-life care, while our CaringInfo program provides free resources to educate and empower patients and caregivers. nhpco.org

Press Contact:
Madison Summers
NHPCO Communications
Ph: 571-412-3973

For Immediate Release
June 16, 2023

NHPCO and HAN Help Ensure Provider Concerns are Heard on The Hill and at CMS

(Alexandria, VA) – More than 70 hospice and palliative care advocates from across the country met with over 130 congressional offices last week to discuss key legislative and regulatory priorities for ensuring and expanding access to hospice and palliative care. The meetings were part of Hospice Action Week, hosted in Washington, DC by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and its advocacy affiliate, the Hospice Action Network (HAN).

These congressional advocacy actions came a week after NHPCO filed detailed comments on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Hospice Wage Index and Quality Reporting Proposed Rule, demonstrating the importance of both legislative and regulatory advocacy for protecting and improving hospice and palliative care. In addition to the full comments, a summary of NHPCO’s recommendations on the proposed rule is available on its website.

The congressional meetings and the FY 2024 comment letter addressed key issues impacting the hospice and palliative care community, including:

Reimbursement: For providers to continue delivering hospice care that Americans increasingly choose, and which has been recently demonstrated to improve patient and family outcomes while saving money, Medicare reimbursement must support delivery of those services. Reimbursement was a focus of both the comments on the FY 2024 Hospice Wage Index proposed rule and Hospice Action Week. Noting that the hospice market basket calculation used to predetermine hospice reimbursements ahead of each fiscal year has resulted in rates that have not kept up with actual market basket increases, NHPCO recommended that CMS use its special exception and adjustment authority to make a one-time retrospective adjustment of 3.7% for the combined FY 2021 and FY 2022 market baskets, in addition to the FY 2024 market basket adjustment of 2.8%, to ensure Medicare payments more accurately reflect the cost of providing hospice care today.

Program Integrity: In keeping with our longstanding efforts on program integrity, both NHPCO’s comments on the FY 2024 Hospice Wage Index proposed rule and the Hospice Action Week advocates’ meetings with congressional offices included a focus on hospice program integrity and fraud prevention. In the comment letter, NHPCO reiterated strong support for all efforts by CMS to address fraudulent behaviors that abuse the hospice Medicare benefit to defraud the system and harm patients. In Washington, hospice and palliative care advocates asked their Senators and Representatives to use their oversight authority to ensure CMS does everything possible to prevent fraud in the hospice system. We continue to advocate for 34 program integrity recommendations we made in January.

Workforce: As noted in the NHPCO comment letter, “Hospice providers are now seeing critical staffing shortages among nurses, social workers, aides, and other members of the interdisciplinary team…Providers report for 2022 nursing wages increased by as much as 23%, aide wages increased by as much as 12% and wages of other members of the interdisciplinary team increased by 5-6%… Hospices are not well positioned to compete with hospitals, staffing agencies, and other post-acute healthcare providers to recruit qualified care team members without significantly increasing their compensation costs.” These challenges speak to the need for reevaluating hospice reimbursement as outlined above. Additionally, advocates meeting with congressional offices recommended reintroduction of the Palliative Care & Hospice Education Training Act (PCHETA), a bill introduced in several recent congresses with broad, bipartisan support backed by NHPCO and HAN, which would establish a national approach to research and education to advance hospice and palliative care medicine.

Community-based Palliative Care: The hospice and palliative care advocates used congressional visits as an opportunity to discuss the importance of advancing a model of Community-based Palliative Care. Within days, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Barrasso (R-WY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Deb Fischer (R-NE), co-chairs and co-founders of the bipartisan Senate Comprehensive Care Caucus, introduced the bipartisan Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act (S.1845), which would require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to develop a Community-based Palliative Care demonstration.

CMS Requests for Information: NHPCO’s comment letter included detailed responses to two Requests for Information included by CMS in the FY 2024 Hospice Wage Index proposed rule, including recommendations related to:

• • • Advancing health equity
    • Addressing the number of hospices that do not bill for the required four levels of care
    • Considering the issues with expensive end-of-life treatments, such as blood transfusions, palliative radiation and chemotherapy, and dialysis
    • Exploring options for concurrent curative and hospice care in specific patient situations
    • Improving available information from other Medicare providers about spending when the patient is enrolled in hospice
    • Adding codes to track the provision of services through telehealth and codes specifically for chaplain visits
    • Improving accuracy of ownership data in Care Compare and other government-run systems

Hospice Action Week also featured a meeting of the NHPCO Council of States, a network of leaders of state hospice and palliative care organizations from across the country. The Council of States discussed state and national policy issues of interest to hospice and palliative care providers and the role of state organizations in addressing the issues noted above.

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 About NHPCO

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is the nation’s largest and oldest membership association for providers who care for people affected by serious and life-limiting illness. Our members deliver and expand access to high-quality, person-centered interdisciplinary care to millions of Americans. NHPCO provides education and resources to support that mission. Together with our advocacy partner, the Hospice Action Network (HAN), we serve as the leading voice advancing public policy to improve serious-illness and end-of-life care, while our CaringInfo program provides free resources to educate and empower patients and caregivers. nhpco.org

NHPCO Contact:
Madison Summers
571-412-3973

For Immediate Release
June 8, 2023

(Alexandria, VA) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and its affiliate group, the Hospice Action Network (HAN) thank Congressional leaders, U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen (D-NV), John Barrasso (R-WY), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and Deb Fischer (R-NE), co-chairs and co-founders of the bipartisan Senate Comprehensive Care Caucus, for the introduction of the bipartisan Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act (S.1845) which proposes the creation of a demonstration project to support improved access to palliative care services through a community-based model.

If passed, the bill would require the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) to develop a Community-Based Palliative Care (CBPC) demonstration. This program would provide essential interdisciplinary care to people with serious illness in their home and lead to improved quality and cost outcomes.

“Having stepped away from my career to care for my parents and in-laws as they aged, I am aware of the challenges that caretakers and patients face when trying to access palliative care services,” said Senator Rosen. “I’m introducing bipartisan legislation with my colleagues to help ensure patients are provided comprehensive palliative and health care services much earlier in the course of their illness. As a co-founder of the Senate’s Comprehensive Care Caucus, I’ll always find ways to improve the quality of life for patients and their families.”

NHPCO has drafted a framework for a CBPC model aimed at improving patient outcomes and experience of care while reducing unnecessary emergency department visits and hospitalizations for high-risk patients. Additionally, this model will address social determinants of health to improve outcomes for those living in under-resourced areas.

“There are many benefits to allowing patients to seek palliative support through early referrals. Hospices and community-based palliative care providers are uniquely positioned to deliver this model of care. Their longstanding expertise in advance care planning, pain and symptom management, interdisciplinary care, and more make these organizations ideal entities to deliver a model of care in support of people and families dealing with serious illness at home,” said NHPCO COO and interim CEO Ben Marcantonio. “Thank you to the Comprehensive Care Caucus for the bi-partisan support in prioritizing this critical service and introducing the Expanding Access to Palliative Care Act.”

NHPCO recently partnered with NORC at the University of Chicago to determine the projected enrollment, calculated baseline of utilization, and cost of care for our proposed CBPC Model. Based on preliminary results and a conservative sample of enrollees, NORC found that this model can reduce the average total cost of care by 20% and result in almost 600 million dollars in savings to Medicare or roughly $143 dollars per beneficiary per month.

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Press Contact:
Madison Summers 
NHPCO Communications
Ph: 571-412-3973

For Immediate Release
April 28, 2023

(Alexandria, VA) – Earlier this month, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) published details on the extension of the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model that may have significant implications for hospice care going forward. In response, the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) shared the following analysis of some key details contained in the CMS fact sheet.

Concurrent care:

• • • CMS is using this model program to expand what is known as “concurrent care,” which is giving a patient who wants it access to both hospice care and curative care at the same time. NHPCO and our members have long argued that patients should not have to give up curative care in order to access hospice care. CMS tested concurrent care on a limited scale with the former Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM) and had excellent results. We’re pleased that under the VBID extension more people will get greater access to the care they want during the end-of-life journey.
    • Unfortunately, concurrent care will be limited to select patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) Plans participating in VBID. When Congress designed the Medicare Hospice Benefit, the intent was very clearly to provide access to all Americans who want hospice care. As our country expands the type of hospice care available–in this case, concurrent hospice and curative care–those choices should be available to all. The lessons learned on concurrent care from MCCM and from the VBID extension should be rolled out as quickly as possible to all Americans. NHPCO will work with CMS and Congressional leaders to ensure that is the case.

Limiting patient choice:

• • • The VBID extension gives MA Organizations the ability to limit the hospice choices available to their plan enrollees starting in 2026.
    • Care choices at the end of life are among the most personal, consequential choices a person and their loved ones will ever consider. Allowing MA plans to limit their enrollee’s hospice choice based on the MA plan’s business relationships means limiting patient access, and it runs against the spirit of the Medicare Hospice Benefit.
    • While we welcome the emphasis on a continuity of care as patients transition to hospice, we are concerned about allowing private insurance companies to limit the hospice benefit, which is guaranteed to all Americans. Again, NHPCO will work with Congress and CMS to continue speaking up for access and choice in hospice care.

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About NHPCO

The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is the nation’s largest and oldest membership association for providers who care for people affected by serious and life-limiting illness. Our members deliver and expand access to high-quality, person-centered interdisciplinary care to millions of Americans. NHPCO provides education and resources to support that mission. Together with our advocacy partner, the Hospice Action Network (HAN), we serve as the leading voice advancing public policy to improve serious-illness and end-of-life care, while our CaringInfo program provides free resources to educate and empower patients and caregivers. nhpco.org

NHPCO Contact:
Madison Summers
571-412-3973

For Immediate Release
April 20, 2023

(Alexandria, VA) – The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) and its affiliate organization, the Hospice Action Network (HAN) published the following statement in response to today’s announcement that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has, for the first time ever, released ownership data for all Medicare-certified hospice and home health agencies.

This announcement means that information on the ownership of more than 6,000 hospices and 11,000 home health agencies certified to participate in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) can now be reviewed by anyone on the CMS website. This follows the release of the FY2024 Hospice Rule (CMS-1787-P) which included  the categories of “private equity company” and “real estate investment trust” to the list of possible options for hospice ownership.

According to CMS, the data elements include: enrollment information such as organization name, type, practice location addresses, National Provider Identifier (NPI), CMS Certification Number (CCN); detailed information about each owner such as whether it is an organization or an individual and whether it is a direct owner or indirect owner (that is, there is at least one subsidiary between it and the provider); and a numerical associate ID for each owner to enable linkage to the enrollment file.

In January of 2023, NHPCO joined with three other national hospice provider organizations to provide CMS and key Congressional stakeholders with recommended legislative and regulatory changes to strengthen hospice program integrity. Included in the 34 recommendations was a request for ownership disclosure for all hospices.

NHPCO’s call to action with CMS and Congressional leaders on program integrity led to a significant step in the right direction for the hospice community to ensure that only well-qualified hospice providers are permitted to care for, and support, beneficiaries and their families at the end of life. NHPCO and HAN will continue to work closely alongside CMS, legislators, and other national hospice provider organizations, to assess various options for continuing to improve program integrity in hospice care.

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About NHPCO
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is the nation’s largest and oldest membership association for providers who care for people affected by serious and life-limiting illness. Our members deliver and expand access to high-quality, person-centered interdisciplinary care to millions of Americans. NHPCO provides education and resources to support that mission. Together with our advocacy partner, the Hospice Action Network (HAN), we serve as the leading voice advancing public policy to improve serious-illness and end-of-life care, while our CaringInfo program provides free resources to educate and empower patients and caregivers. nhpco.org

NHPCO Contact:
Madison Summers
571-412-3973

 

For Immediate Release
April 17, 2023

(Alexandria, VA) The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) published the following statement in response to a recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rule that would update key components of hospice reimbursement and regulations in Fiscal Year (FY) 2024.

Since the publication of the proposed rule, NHPCO has heard from hospice members across the country. Those conversations spotlighted opportunities and a significant concern contained in the FY 2024 Hospice Wage Index and Quality Reporting Proposed Rule.

Concern:

• • • The 2.8% proposed rate increase for hospices is not enough to support the care hospices provide. Hospices are dealing with inflation rates that are at least twice that high, compounded by historical and ongoing workforce challenges. In 2024, pre-determined sequestration cuts will further reduce hospice reimbursement to a de facto increase of about 1%. Americans are increasingly choosing hospice for end-of-life care. Intentionally underfunding that care should be a non-starter.

Opportunities:

• • • CMS is using the proposed rule to advance hospice program integrity measures, curb fraudulent and abusive practices within the system, advance health equity, and increase hospice utilization. These efforts are in line with NHPCO’s ongoing work, including 34 program integrity recommendations made in January. NHPCO will work with the hospice community and CMS to help shape the following efforts:
      • • The proposed rule would require physicians to be enrolled in Medicare to certify and recertify patients for hospice care. If designed and implemented properly, NHPCO believes this measure may help identify physicians who are engaging (or potentially engaging in fraudulent or abusive behavior, presenting a risk of harm to Medicare beneficiaries or are other unqualified to certify or recertify beneficiaries for hospice.
        • In this proposed rule, CMS announced it is soliciting feedback from providers via two Requests for Information (RFIs) – one on health equity in hospice and the other on hospice utilization, non-hospice spending, ownership, and hospice election. NHPCO welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback and is soliciting detailed comments from providers for both RFIs. CMS will have significant on-the-ground experiences from providers to inform these important issues around access, equity, and the integrity of the Medicare hospice benefit.

Recent independent research demonstrates that hospice care resulted in reduced Medicare spending of $3.5 billion in 2019, while benefiting patients, families, and caregivers. The benefits for patients, family members, and caregivers include increased satisfaction and quality of life, improved pain control, reduced physical and emotional distress, and reduced prolonged grief and other emotional distress. No other area of healthcare delivers such high value for patients and for Medicare. Pair that with two decades of growth in the number of Americans choosing hospice care, and it’s clear that hospice is a smart investment. Through the FY 2024 process and beyond, NHPCO will continue working with CMS to ensure access to hospice care and the integrity of the hospice benefit.

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About NHPCO
The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) is the nation’s largest and oldest membership association for providers who care for people affected by serious and life-limiting illness. Our members deliver and expand access to high-quality, person-centered interdisciplinary care to millions of Americans. NHPCO provides education and resources to support that mission. Together with our advocacy partner, the Hospice Action Network (HAN), we serve as the leading voice advancing public policy to improve serious-illness and end-of-life care, while our CaringInfo program provides free resources to educate and empower patients and caregivers. nhpco.org

Press Contact:
Madison Summers
NHPCO Communications
Ph: 571-412-3973

For Immediate Release
March 29, 2023

(Alexandria, VA) The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization has created a new Quality and Innovation Network as a community for providers who share a commitment to establishing a culture of quality within their hospice and palliative care organizations.

Members of the Quality and Innovation Network (QIN) will join monthly virtual working sessions with industry-recognized performance improvement coaches, the NHPCO Quality team, and colleagues from across the country to collaborate and receive individualized feedback on their organization’s performance improvement initiatives. Members will receive relevant educational content on topics related to quality assurance and performance improvement.

“This nationwide collaboration across organizations allows for sharing of evidence-based best practices and solutions. The NHPCO team will help to facilitate connections between like-minded organizations and provide performance improvement project resources to members,” said Aparna Gupta, VP of Quality at NHPCO.

All NHPCO member organizations are invited to join this program. Additionally, member organizations will have the opportunity to receive credits in each pillar of NHPCO’s Quality Connections program by participating in the QIN. Visit the NHPCO Quality and Innovation Network webpage for more information on how to register.

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Press Contact:
Madison Summers
NHPCO Communications
Ph: 571-412-3973