With everyone’s attention being consumed by COVID-19, it’s easy to forget about important new payment model demonstrations coming up. The Hospice Medicare Advantage Carve-In demonstration is still starting in 2021 as scheduled. Although this will only impact a small portion of the market, all hospice providers should pay attention. Medicare Advantage enrollment continues to rise every year, and there is little doubt that Medicare Advantage will play a critical role in your reimbursement in the coming years.
“For CY 2021, VBID Model participation continued to build on the substantial growth seen in CY 2020. For CY 2021, the VBID Model has 19 participating MA organizations, up from 10 in 2019 and 14 in 2020. These 19 participating MA organizations are testing the Model in 45 states, DC, and Puerto Rico through 451 PBPs, up from 7 states in 2019 and 30 states and Puerto Rico in 2020, and 56 and 157 participating PBPs, respectively, each year. A total of 4.6 million beneficiaries are projected to be enrolled in participating PBPs, an increase from approximately 440,000 beneficiaries in 2019 and 1.2 million in 2020, with over 1.6 million beneficiaries expected to be targeted to receive additional supplemental benefits through the Model, up from 82,000 in 2019 and 280,000 in 2020. For more information on the service areas, please visit the VBID Model website.”