This proposed rule would set forth routine updates to the Medicare home health and home infusion therapy services payment rates for calendar year (CY) 2023 in accordance with existing statutory and regulatory requirements. This proposed rule discusses home health utilization; proposes a methodology for determining the difference between assumed versus actual behavior change on estimated aggregate expenditures for home health payments as result of the change in the unit of payment to 30 days and the implementation of the Patient Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) case-mix adjustment methodology; and proposes a temporary retrospective and permanent prospective adjustment to the CY 2023 home health payment rates. This rule proposes reassignment of certain diagnosis codes under the PDGM. and proposes to establish a permanent mitigation policy to smooth the impact of year-to-year changes in home health payments related to changes in the home health wage index. This rule also proposes recalibration of the PDGM case-mix weights and updates the low utilization payment adjustment (LUPA) thresholds, functional impairment levels, comorbidity adjustment subgroups for CY 2023 and the fixed-dollar loss ratio (FDL) used for outlier payments. Additionally, this rule discusses the future collection of data regarding the use of telecommunications technology during a 30-day home health period of care on home health claims. In addition, this rule proposes changes to the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP) requirements; changes to the expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model; and updates to the home infusion therapy services payment rates for CY 2023.

Read the text of this proposed rule in the Federal Register