The final 2021 home health payment rule issued last week by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services contains an estimated increase of $390 million in home health payments for agencies, for an aggregate hike of 1.9%. That’s the good news.
The bad news? The estimate is significantly less than the $540 million, a 2.6% uplift proposed by CMS. And perhaps neither really good or bad news is the CMS decision to cap 2021 wage decreases at 5%.
The same might be said of the rule’s effect on the Patient-Driven Groupings Model. Simply put, there aren’t any major changes, although home health advocates would like CMS to reconsider PDGM’s behavioral adjustment.
