[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 42, Volume 2]
[Revised as of October 1, 2002]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 42CFR418.302]

[Page 788-789]
 
                         TITLE 42--PUBLIC HEALTH
 
                             HUMAN SERVICES
 
PART 418--HOSPICE CARE--Table of Contents
 
                   Subpart G--Payment for Hospice Care
 
Sec. 418.302  Payment procedures for hospice care.

    (a) CMS establishes payment amounts for specific categories of 
covered hospice care.
    (b) Payment amounts are determined within each of the following 
categories:
    (1) Routine home care day. A routine home care day is a day on which 
an individual who has elected to receive hospice care is at home and is 
not receiving continuous care as defined in paragraph (b)(2) of this 
section.
    (2) Continuous home care day. A continuous home care day is a day on 
which an individual who has elected to receive hospice care is not in an 
inpatient facility and receives hospice care consisting predominantly of 
nursing care on a continuous basis at home. Home health aide or 
homemaker services or both may also be provided on a continuous basis. 
Continuous home care is only furnished during brief periods of crisis as 
described in Sec. 418.204(a) and only as necessary to maintain the 
terminally ill patient at home.
    (3) Inpatient respite care day. An inpatient respite care day is a 
day on which the individual who has elected hospice care receives care 
in an approved facility on a short-term basis for respite.
    (4) General inpatient care day. A general inpatient care day is a 
day on which an individual who has elected hospice care receives general 
inpatient care in an inpatient facility for pain control or acute or 
chronic symptom management which cannot be managed in other settings.
    (c) The payment amounts for the categories of hospice care are fixed 
payment rates that are established by CMS in accordance with the 
procedures described in Sec. 418.306. Payment rates are determined for 
the following categories:
    (1) Routine home care.
    (2) Continuous home care.
    (3) Inpatient respite care.
    (4) General inpatient care.
    (d) The intermediary reimburses the hospice at the appropriate 
payment amount for each day for which an eligible Medicare beneficiary 
is under the hospice's care.
    (e) The intermediary makes payment according to the following 
procedures:
    (1) Payment is made to the hospice for each day during which the 
beneficiary is eligible and under the care of the hospice, regardless of 
the amount of services furnished on any given day.
    (2) Payment is made for only one of the categories of hospice care 
described in Sec. 418.302(b) for any particular day.
    (3) On any day on which the beneficiary is not an inpatient, the 
hospice is paid the routine home care rate, unless the patient receives 
continuous care as defined in paragraph (b)(2) of this section for a 
period of at least 8 hours. In that case, a portion of the continuous 
care day rate is paid in accordance with paragraph (e)(4) of this 
section.
    (4) The hospice payment on a continuous care day varies depending on 
the number of hours of continuous services provided. The continuous home 
care rate is divided by 24 to yield an hourly rate. The number of hours 
of continuous care provided during a continuous

[[Page 789]]

home care day is then multiplied by the hourly rate to yield the 
continuous home care payment for that day. A minimum of 8 hours of care 
must be furnished on a particular day to qualify for the continuous home 
care rate.
    (5) Subject to the limitations described in paragraph (f) of this 
section, on any day on which the beneficiary is an inpatient in an 
approved facility for inpatient care, the appropriate inpatient rate 
(general or respite) is paid depending on the category of care 
furnished. The inpatient rate (general or respite) is paid for the date 
of admission and all subsequent inpatient days, except the day on which 
the patient is discharged. For the day of discharge, the appropriate 
home care rate is paid unless the patient dies as an inpatient. In the 
case where the beneficiary is discharged deceased, the inpatient rate 
(general or respite) is paid for the discharge day. Payment for 
inpatient respite care is subject to the requirement that it may not be 
provided consecutively for more than 5 days at a time. Payment for the 
sixth and any subsequent day of respite care is made at the routine home 
care rate.
    (f) Payment for inpatient care is limited as follows: (1) The total 
payment to the hospice for inpatient care (general or respite) is 
subject to a limitation that total inpatient care days for Medicare 
patients not exceed 20 percent of the total days for which these 
patients had elected hospice care.
    (2) At the end of a cap period, the intermediary calculates a 
limitation on payment for inpatient care to ensure that Medicare payment 
is not made for days of inpatient care in excess of 20 percent of the 
total number of days of hospice care furnished to Medicare patients.
    (3) If the number of days of inpatient care furnished to Medicare 
patients is equal to or less than 20 percent of the total days of 
hospice care to Medicare patients, no adjustment is necessary. Overall 
payments to a hospice are subject to the cap amount specified in 
Sec. 418.309.
    (4) If the number of days of inpatient care furnished to Medicare 
patients exceeds 20 percent of the total days of hospice care to 
Medicare patients, the total payment for inpatient care is determined in 
accordance with the procedures specified in paragraph (f)(5) of this 
section. That amount is compared to actual payments for inpatient care, 
and any excess reimbursement must be refunded by the hospice. Overall 
payments to the hospice are subject to the cap amount specified in 
Sec. 418.309.
    (5) If a hospice exceeds the number of inpatient care days described 
in paragraph (f)(4), the total payment for inpatient care is determined 
as follows:
    (i) Calculate the ratio of the maximum number of allowable inpatient 
days to the actual number of inpatient care days furnished by the 
hospice to Medicare patients.
    (ii) Multiply this ratio by the total reimbursement for inpatient 
care made by the intermediary.
    (iii) Multiply the number of actual inpatient days in excess of the 
limitation by the routine home care rate.
    (iv) Add the amounts calculated in paragraphs (f)(5)(ii) and (iii) 
of this section.

[48 FR 56026, Dec. 16, 1983, as amended at 56 FR 26919, June 12, 1991]