Since 2011, Abt Associates has conducted comprehensive analyses of Medicare Hospice Benefit utilization for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). This work helped identify vulnerabilities in the payment system, which led to Abt developing alternative hospice payment systems that better align payment with patient resource use.

Additionally, Abt has provided extensive operational and rulemaking support to CMS as they refine the payment system and implement large scale changes as mandated by the Affordable Care Act.

Abt’s work has contributed to the first major changes to the hospice payment system since the inception of the benefit in 1983. Starting in 2016, payment for Routine Home Care services will be based on the length of the beneficiary’s enrollment in hospice. Additionally, hospices have the ability to receive a service intensity adjustment if they provide certain services to their patients at the end of life.

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Journal articles

• Changes in Medicare Costs with the Growth of Hospice Care in Nursing Homes
• Characteristics of Hospice Programs with Problematic Live Discharges
• Total Medicare Payments Related to Hospice and Non-Hospice Services for Beneficiaries Enrolled in the Hospice Benefit
• Examining Emergency Room and Observational Stay Visits during Medicare Hospice Election
• A National Study of Live Discharges from Hospice

Presentations

• 2015 NHPCO Annual Management & Leadership Conference Presentation
• An Update to Hospice Payment Reform Research

Reports

• Medicare Hospice Payment Reform: Analysis of How the Medicare Hospice Benefit is Used
• Medicare Hospice Payment Reform: A Review of the Literature – 2014 Update
• Medicare Hospice Payment Reform: Analyses to Support Payment Reform – May 2014 Technical Report
• Medicare Hospice Payment Reform: A Review of the Literature – 2013 Update
• Medicare Hospice Payment Reform: Hospice Study Technical Report 2013
• Medicare Hospice Payment Reform: A Review of the Literature 2013