Home health payments to rise 2.8 percent in 2006

Healthcare Financial Management, Dec, 2005

Home health agencies will receive a 2.8 percent increase in their 2006 Medicare payment rates, CMS announced in a final rule published in the Nov. 2 Federal Register. Under the rule, the CY06 payment rate update will be the home health market basket increase of 3.6 percent, minus 0.8 percent. Rural and urban home health agencies will receive payment increases of approximately 3.4 percent and 2.5 percent, respectively. Aggregate payments to the facilities would increase by $370 million next year.

The final rule also adopts the Office of Management and Budget's revised metropolitan statistical area definitions. In implementing the new MSA designations, CMS will use a one-year transition period of a blended wage index consisting of both the old and new wage index values, with the wage index based entirely on the new MSA definitions in 2007. [mouse] 11-04-05