Dombi: Washington cost-cutting may lead to new scrutiny of hospice rates Summary: Home care providers are “anxious” about the situation in Washington, DC, William Dombi, senior counsel at the law firm Arnall Golden Gregory told McKnight’s Home Care in a Newsmakers podcast. While Medicaid is a focus of the government’s cost-cutting efforts, hospice may be in the center of the target as well. There is a concern that this period will usher in a rebasing of hospice payment rates — similar to what happened to home health with the introduction of the Affordable Care Act, said Dombi who retired as president emeritus of the National Alliance for Care at Home last year last year.
William Dombi has been too busy working on home care advocacy to relax during his retirement from the National Alliance for Care at Home, he told McKnight’s Home Care in a Newsmakers podcast. Besides working for the law firm Arnall Golden Gregory, he is the board of advisers for New Day Healthcare. With the federal administration honing in on fraud, waste and abuse, Medicaid and hospice are in the crosshairs. The field has been in such a predicament before. The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 brought about a new payment model for home health. Then the Affordable Care Act resulted in the rebasing of home health payment rates, which hurt the industry. Hospice could see a similar rebasing of rates. The new generation of hospice also could see the introduction of Medicare Advantage to hospice. And there may be an expansion of palliative care as well. While there are concerns, there are opportunities in home care as well. There needs to be more education to teach home care about getting involved with hospital-at-home programs and other innovative approaches to care, he said.
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Show contributors:
McKnight’s Home Care Editor Liza Berger; William Dombi, senior counsel, Arnall Golden Gregory