The American Hospital Association said the CMS proposed 3.3 percent market basket update for Medicare home health agencies in 2023 is "woefully inadequate,'' especially when combined with an "unprecedented" behavioral offset.
The proposed market basket update does not does not capture the unprecedented inflationary environment home health agencies — and the delivery system as a whole — are experiencing, the group said in an Aug. 26 letter to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.
"This is because the market basket is a time-lagged estimate that uses historical data to forecast into the future," the letter stated. "When historical data are no longer a good predictor of future changes, the market basket methodology becomes ineffective."
The group said it wants CMS to discuss in the final rule how the agency will account for increased costs to ensure that beneficiaries continue to have access to quality home health care.
The group also states that the 7.69 percent behavioral offset is based on flawed assumptions and is urging CMS to halt the proposed cut.
Read the full letter here.