FY 2022 Home Health Final Rule Released

The FY 2022 Home Health Final Rule went on display at the Federal Register’s Public Inspection Desk today, 11/02/2021, and will be available under special filings at: https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2021-23993.pdf

Click Here to view a summary of the Rule as it appears in the posting. More detailed analyses will be forthcoming. Additionally, NAHC is conducting two webinars this Friday to review the final rule and its implications on home health and on hospice. Details regarding the webinars can be found here.

Among other things, the 2022 Final Rule expands the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model nationwide. Throughout 2022, CMS will provide technical assistance to HHAs to ensure they understand how performance will be assessed. The first performance year will begin January 1, 2023, and adjustments will be made to HHA Medicare fee-for-service payments in 2025 (according to their performance in 2023). To learn more, please visit the Expanded HHVBP Model webpage.

The 2022 Final Rule also contains the regulations that will be implemented for hospice program integrity/survey reform/enforcement remedies following the passage of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 in December 2020.
In more Hospice News, the CY 2022 Physician Fee Schedule, which was also released on 11/02, contains the implementing regulations for the Rural Access to Hospice Act allowing physicians and NPPs in Rural Health Clinics and Federally Qualified Health Centers to serve as a hospice attending physician, telehealth provisions, changes in physician assistant billing and e-prescribing. The Physician Fee Schedule Rule can be reviewed here:  CY 2022 Physician Fee Schedule (CMS-1751-F).