The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released its Home Health Prospective Payment System final rule for 2021. The final rule reflects comments ASCO submitted on the proposed rule in support of increased access to telemedicine in home health care and concerns over home infusion of chemotherapy.
In response to ASCO’s support for telemedicine in home health care, in 2021, CMS will allow home health agencies to utilize telecommunications technologies in providing care to beneficiaries under the Medicare home health program on a permanent basis, as long as the technology is:
- Related to the skilled services provided
- Outlined in the plan of care
- Tied to a specific goal and indicates how such use would facilitate treatment outcomes.
In the final rule, CMS quoted ASCO’s comments, stating, “these changes would ensure patient access to the latest technology and give home health agencies the confidence that they can continue to use telecommunications technology,” and “allowing services via telecommunications technology is especially useful for certain vulnerable subsets of Medicare patients, such as patients [with cancer] who may be immunocompromised, by helping to reduce exposure to all illnesses, not just COVID-19.”
ASCO’s comments on the proposed rule also expressed concerns about the safety of home chemotherapy infusion and asked CMS to consult with oncologists prior to implementing its proposal in 2021. CMS did not acknowledge that request in the final rule and will move ahead with the home infusion benefit proposals in 2021 as discussed in the proposed rule.
The final rule updates the 2021 home infusion therapy services payment rates for three categories of home infusions (including chemotherapy) using the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule amounts, excludes home infusion therapy services from home health services as required by law, and implements Medicare enrollment policies for qualified home infusion therapy suppliers.
ASCO will continue to monitor the implementation of the Medicare home infusion benefit and encourage CMS to consider ASCO’s position statement on home infusion of anticancer therapy.
Visit ASCO in Action for updates.
© 2020. American Society of Clinical Oncology. All rights reserved.
