Final Home Health Rates 2015

On Friday we published an Email Blast about the Final 2015 Home Health PPS Rules & Rates.  This is the second article about the Home Health PPS Rates.  Today we will list the actual episode payment rates, LUPA payment rates and Non Routine Medical Supply Rates.  Look for more Email Blast later this week concerning the Final Home Health PPS Rules and Rates.

Final Base Urban Episode Rates Before Case Mix and Wage Index Adjustments
Description	2015	2014	Variance	% Variance
Standard Episode Payment Rate	$2,961.38	$2,869.27	$92.11	3.21%

Do not be fooled by the phantom rate increase because CMS has reduced the average case mix rate by 3.66%.  This means you are actually receiving a reduction in average payments of 0.45% or $12.91.  We will be providing an email about the case-mix adjustments later this week.

Final LUPA Rates Urban Agencies Before Wage Index Adjustments
Description	2015	2014	Variance	% Variance
Skilled Nursing	$127.83	$121.10	$6.73	5.56%
Physical Therapy	$139.75	$132.40	$7.35	5.56%
Occupational Therapy	$140.70	$133.30	$7.40	5.56%
Speech Pathology	$151.88	$143.88	$8.00	5.56%
Medical Social Work	$204.91	$194.12	$10.79	5.56%
Home Health Aide	$57.89	$54.84	$3.05	5.56%

Final LUPA Add-On Payment Amounts Before Wage Index Adjustments
Description	Base 2015 Rate	Add-On Factor	Revised Rate 1st Visit
Skilled Nurse makes initial visit	$127.83	1.8541	$237.01
Physical Therapist makes initial visit	$139.75	1.6700	$233.38
Speech Pathologist makes initial visit	$151.88	1.6266	$247.05

 

Final Non-Routine Medical Supply Base Rate
Description	2015	2014	Variance	% Variance
Medical Supply Base Rate	$53.23	$53.65	($0.42)	(0.78%)

Final 2014 Non-Routine Medical Supply
Severity	Points	Relative Weight	Proposed NRS Payment Amount
1	0	0.2698	$14.36
2	1 to 14	0.9742	$51.86
3	15 to 27	2.6712	$142.19
4	28 to 48	3.9686	$211.25
5	49 to 98	6.1198	$325.76
6	99+	10.5254	$560.27

 

Remember that all rates must be adjusted for urban and rural home health agencies.  LUPA Rates and Episodes Rates must be adjusted by wage index.   Episode rates must be adjusted by wage index and case mix.  Home health agencies that do not submit quality data will receive an additional 2 percent cut in payments. 

We will have much more on the Final 2015 Home Health PPS Payment Rules and Rates in future email alerts.  We have scheduled a Home Health Webinar titled "Final 2015 Home Health PPS Rules & Rates" for November 20, 2014 from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm EDT.  The webinar will be held Live, but will be available later on demand because it will be recorded.  

Temporary Link to Final 2015 Home Health PPS Rules & Rates

The final rule will be published in the Federal Register on November 6th.  We will provide a new link at that time.

Webinar Information 

Registration Form