Under the final rule, CMS estimates Medicare payments to home health agencies will be reduced by 0.7 percent, or $130 million, in 2017.
The estimated decrease is based on the following: a $450 million increase to the home health payment update; a $420 million decrease due to the rebasing adjustments to the national, standardized 60-day episode payment rate, the national per-visit payment rates and the non-routine medical supplies conversion factor; and a $160 million decrease due to the adjustment to the national, standardized 60-day episode payment rate to account for nominal case-mix growth.
In 2015, about 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries received home health services from approximately 11,400 home health agencies, according to CMS.
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