Medicare Payments Made Outside of the Hospice Benefit

According to 42 CFR 418.24(d), in general, a hospice beneficiary waives all rights to Medicare payments for any services that are related to the treatment of the terminal condition for which hospice care was elected. The hospice agency assumes responsibility for medical care related to the beneficiary's terminal illness and related conditions. Medicare continues to pay for covered medical services that are not related to the terminal illness. Prior OIG reviews have identified separate payments that should have been covered under the per diem payments made to hospice organizations. We will produce summary data on all Medicare payments made outside the hospice benefit, without determining the appropriateness of such payments, for beneficiaries who are under hospice care. In addition, we will conduct separate reviews of selected individual categories of services (e.g., durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies, physician services, outpatient) to determine whether payments made outside of the hospice benefit complied with Federal requirements.

Announced or Revised	Agency	Title	Component	Report Number(s)	Expected Issue Date (FY)
Completed (partial)	Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	Medicare Payments Made Outside of the Hospice Benefit	Office of Audit Services	W-00-20-35797; A-09-20-03026; A-09-20-03015	2025