Medicare Finalizes Changes to Medicare Home Health Program

Effective January 1, 2025.  On November 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the Calendar Year (CY) 2025 Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) Rate Update final rule, which updates the Medicare payment policies and rates for home health agencies (HHAs). CMS projects an increase in aggregate payments by 0.5 percent, and also finalizes a permanent prospective adjustment of -1.975% to the CY 2025 home health payment rate. CMS finalized a new standard for acceptance to service policy in the Home Health Conditions of Participation (HH CoPs) and their proposal with modification to require ongoing respiratory illness reporting for Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities. The rule is effective January 1, 2025.