CMS Reverses Course on Independent Consulting Pharmacists
In a move that most industry watchers including myself believed was unlikely to occur, CMS decided to reverse course on a proposal to require SNFs to have separate relationships for dispensing and consulting pharmacies/pharmacists. CMS publicized its decision yesterday.
About a month ago in a post I wrote regarding post-acute trends (http://wp.me/ptUlY-aO ), I indicated that my sources inside D.C. and CMS were all but certain that a final rule implementing the required separation as of January 2013 was forthcoming. In calls today, the prevailing news is that via the comment period and protracted industry pressure, CMS realized it needed to move away from this position. Perhaps more telling to “what” transpired is the directed two-tone sound flooding CMS. The first loud and repetitive sound drilled throughout CMS their inherently flawed and unsupported conclusion that the pharmacy relationships correlated directly to increases in antipsychotics and psychotropic drug regimes found in SNFs. As I mentioned in my earlier post, this conclusion was supported by no clinical or valid data. In short, from all clinical segments tied to the industry, CMS was bombarded with data refuting this assumption and demands to demonstrate this preposterous correlation. The second deafening sound regarded the financial implications for facilities, already stinging from significant Medicare cuts and insufficient Medicaid reimbursement. In my case, I provided directly, supporting financial and operating data for certain industry client groups illustrating the improbability of sourcing independent consultants, the costs that would be incurred to employ or engage an independent consultant, and the tangential costs the facility would bear in terms of software investment, time, and other resource utilization to implement “effectively” such a system.
The frank reality is that CMS wholly missed the mark initially. There is a clear shortage of pharmacists nationally and thus, a real acute shortage in certain regions and rural locations. There is a pronounced shortage of clinical expertise and geriatric pharmacologists, the back-bone of good consulting. Finally, only organizations sufficient in size and mass have made the necessary software and system investments to make consulting effective and efficient; most other organizations remaining lax in the tools necessary to undertake SNF clients on a consulting pharmacology engagement.
Finally a win for the an industry segment that has really taken hits from a regulatory and reimbursement prospective. SNFs needed this reprieve, if for no other reason than to continue to digest all of the other oft ill-conceived and illogical requirements already on their plates.
Post-Acute Issues Worth Watching
In my recent work and across recent discussions, phone conferences, etc., I’ve encountered a thematic trend; a circle of issues or as in reference to geese, perhaps a gaggle. Doing a bit of research and sifting through notes written over the past few weeks, here is what is trending.
Pharmacy: In October of last year, CMS issued a proposed rule with a provision inserted which, if published within a final rule, would prohibit consulting pharmacists in SNFs to be employed by or contracted with, the dispensing pharmacy. The theory is that when consultations are performed by pharmacists employed by or affiliated with, the dispensing pharmacy, there exists a greater potential for SNF residents to have as part of their medication regime, higher levels of anti-psychotic drugs, psychoactive drugs, and an increased level of unnecessary or unwarranted drugs. Of concern to most of us working in the post-acute/healthcare arena is that CMS can point to no specific data or research to support this theory, save a well-known fact (historically) that seniors in SNFs use far more anti-psychotic and psychoactive medications that seniors in non-instiutional settings. Drawing a bright-line conclusion that consulting pharmacists related to dispensing pharmacies are the cause is boneheaded to say the least.
Despite this flawed view on the part of CMS and the comments generated during the comment period, my sources inside the D.C. beltway are saying that CMS will publish a final rule soon including a provision requiring SNFs to use independent consultant pharmacists, effective January 1, 2013. Assuming this does occur as I am hearing, SNFs today should begin to work to develop a plan to source possible options ASAP. The inherent difficulty of course is;
- Insufficient supplies of pharmacists, particularly those that have current clinical consulting experience.
- In light of the point above, pharmacists with access to clinical consultation software applications.
- Knowledge - Geriatrics and chronic disease is a specialized field.
- Time and efficiency – getting to know the residents and their respective drug regimens will take a non-affiliated consultant longer.
- Cost – finding a source will not come cheap.
Some options do exist for SNFs in the right market areas. My best advice is to approach hospital systems, work with universities with pharmacy schools, band together with other SNFs, and start now to build a consultant’s package with your current consulting pharmacist, assuming he/she is working with your dispensing pharmacy. It is likely the dispensing pharmacy will work with its SNF clients to a great degree, trying as best possible not to lose the current dispensing business as a result of being a barrier in a transition period.
Hospice and Fraud: Most people who are close to the hospice industry either foresaw or should have seen, the current investigative and crack-down activity from OIG and CMS. The industry in terms of providers and benefit utilization, grew substantially over the past decade, despite overall health care utilization remaining on a relatively slow-growth to no-growth plane. For people like me who watch the industry closely, it was illogical to assume that a growth of terminally ill individuals suddenly sprouted and maintained the growth rate recently evident. The same logic concerns were expressed by Medpac and the OIG with the OIG specifically warning of forthcoming investigations where the bulk of a hospice’s patient encounters arose from nursing home contracts. Just last July, the HHS OIG indicated that it found that hundreds of hospice agencies relied on nursing homes for over two-thirds of their case load. Other reports from Medpac and the OIG found that literally half if not more of these proto-typical nursing home patients under the hospice benefit, did not meet one or more of the qualifying criteria for coverage/certification.
While the large agencies, predominantly investor-owned will be on the radar, even smaller and regional agencies are coming under scrutiny. CMS reports, and I have encountered this first-hand, that claim denials are up, particularly at re-cert periods. Diagnoses are being scrutinized carefully, with CMS looking at re-certs and probing for some evidence of deterioration or movement toward death. CMS knows that certain diagnoses and patient locations correlate to longer stays and as such, the audit focus is squarely on this relationship.
For hospices, the direction is clear – be wary and cautious of certain patient types and the “nursing home/assisted living” patient flow. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities are not necessarily gold-mines of potential referrals, In fact, the true number of organically terminal patients that would/will fit the hospice benefit criteria is not much greater from an overall ratio perspective, than the number found in the general population. While the business relationships between a hospice and a SNF or assisted living facility appear attractive, it is the attractiveness that also makes the same perilous today unless smartly coordinated and managed.
For the past couple of years or so, the hospice growth trend in terms of referrals has been slow to flat. Nothing regarding the recent fraud cases in the industry suggests this trend to arrest. If anything, I expect to see the trend marginally down for a period with the industry actually contracting in terms of the number of providers. Some will simply call it quits while others will sell or merge. Either way, expect fewer total providers and a stable to decreasing referral pattern shift.
Qui Tam, Me Too: The latest round of major fraud actions and False Claims Act identified violations arose out of Qui Tam actions or more commonly, Whistleblower actions. While the Federal government is clearly targeting certain post-acute segments (see OIG 2012 workplan), equally as profound an impact on the industry is the proliferation of former employees and/or contractors willing to disclose less than scrupulous provider behavior. While this element of the law always existed (enforcement and recovery via a private citizen for a portion of the recovery settlement), it has clearly grown to a new level in recent years. The reasons? First, down economies bring forth certain behaviors on the part of businesses pressured to generate earnings and revenue growth. If no organic growth exists within the business sector or market(s) a business occupies, it is incumbent upon the business to find new ways to mine potential market niches. This is very apparent within the hospice sector and in the Medicare component of the SNF industry. The pressure to build revenues in non-growth periods inherently leads to some corner-cutting or machinations that run afoul of the False Claims Act. Shrinking or saving to a profit while a short-run strategy, is nearly impossible to maintain over a longer term horizon without shedding fixed costs as well; very difficult.
The problem inherent with manipulation of Medicare coding, billing, referral requirements, etc., is that what seems good or plausible at a 20,000 foot level must also seem good and plausible at the ten foot level; a level where multiple people must buy-in to the same structural arguments, beliefs and incentives. As the folks existing at the ten foot level rarely see the same level of incentive nor have perhaps, the same level of “skin” in the game, any level of apprehension arising on their part or disgruntlement can be quickly structured into a Qui Tam action. Mix equal parts news coverage with employees disgruntled by certain practices with a growing element of the bar (lawyers) seeking Qui Tam actions with a government willing to pursue these actions and you have a fairly fertile tract of ground for more Qui Tam events.
The moral of this story is that organizations need to be very vigilant concerning their compliance activity, removing any incentives tied to new revenue growth without some counter-balance of audit and scrutiny. Too many times I have heard providers tout abnormally good results in segments or sectors that are flat to under-performing. This is a red flag simply from the standpoint of “why you and not everyone else” logic. If for example, an SNF has an inordinately strong, high paying rehab case-mix and therapy productivity, my counsel is always around “red flag”. Any facility’s profile should match close to the national case-mix distribution and when it doesn’t, either abnormally low or high, its time to delve deeper. The same is true with hospice growth, nursing home days, length of stay and percentage of continuous care designations. Remember the age-old economic axiom – “what gets rewarded or paid for, gets done”. Incentives perversely aligned within the boundaries of False Claims Act risk areas are ripe for peril and thus, someone within the organization or tangentially connected to this process, to cry foul with today, the expectation of a decent future pay-day.
Revenue and Earnings Cautions: In light of some of my comments regarding Qui Tam above, certain post-acute sectors are seeing revenue reductions and thus, earnings shortfalls resulting from Medicare payment reductions and fraud/probe activity. Hospice is a segment that I predict will continue to under-perform as growth is truly non-existent and where growth was attainable via SNF relationships, clearly constrained by federal oversight. Additionally, the SNF industry will suffer as well. Kindred’s recent earnings announcement showed this quite clearly. Medicare cuts impacting therapy RUGs primarily will impact SNF organizations that relied on “mining” certain RUG categories for revenue and margin. Without a more streamlined and balanced revenue model, the Medicare reduction comes faster than the trailing operational improvements possible via rebalancing the business enterprise. Kindred announced as much as it intends to shrink its facility holdings via non-lease renewals and concentrate on building a more efficient revenue/expense equation. Remember, fixed costs are the most difficult to shed and variable costs, tough to align in tight labor markets and markets where patient populations flux daily. In short, only so much can be gained via trimming variable expenses and typically, the amounts are less than adequate to offset revenue reductions and protect margin.
Quality or Quit: The final issue and one that has been lurking in the shadows and unfortunately, ignored by too many providers, is the issue building around “quality”. The frank reality is that from all my sources in Washington and around the various policy arenas is that quality is what matters. There is a prevailing and growing belief that payment must be tied to quality and that government must do everything within its power, regulatory and otherwise, to push providers to deliver better outcomes, more efficiently. This is the genesis of the ACO movement. I have heard directly from important policy and political figures, directed at provider organizations and industry segments, produce “Quality or Quit” the business. Providers have longed believed that quality was the furthest thing linked directly to payment, even though lip service was given to the subject. For post-acute providers and industry segments, the recent release of proposed outcome measures by the National Quality Forum (anyone wishing a copy, e-mail me and I will forward) is a good place to start grasping what is coming, and in a big hurry. Providers across the post-acute spectrum that are not presently, directly and seriously engaged in measuring key care outcomes, need to get up to speed quickly. Reimbursement will be tied to quality measures and more important, providers that are not jointly participating up-stream and down-stream in quality improvement across industry segments, will not see the level or quality of referrals necessary to stay in business.
Medicare SNF Rate Outlook
Literally fresh off of a significant rate adjustment/reduction in October (2011), Medpac (the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission) releases a recommendation for complete SNF payment overhaul. In their assessment of the SNF payment system under Medicare, Medpac concludes the following;
- Medicare payments to SNFs represent 23% of all revenues. Medicare (payer) as a share of SNF patient days averages 12%.
- Provider supply and occupancy rates remain essentially flat year-over-year (2009-2010).
- Quality as determined through survey and other indicators remains unchanged.
- Average Medicare margin is 18.5%. The average margin for for-profit SNFs is 20.7% and for non-profits, 9.5%.
The crux of the Medpac argument is that efficient providers have lower costs (about 10%) and higher quality as evidenced by higher rates of community discharges (38% higher) and lower rates of rehospitalizations (17% lower). Accordingly, Medpac believes that the current system, inclusive of recent adjustments to rates (October) is set to produce the same level of behavior and outcomes, plus account for a 14.6% average margin in 2012. The argument put forth by Medpac is that the Medicare SNF system must be re-based, principally due to the fact that margins have run consistently above 10% since 2000 and the correlation between margins and patient case-mix is non-existent. In summary, the Medpac recommendation, which will head to Congress in the upcoming months, is to revise the PPS system now and begin rebasing rates in 2014, in phases. In addition, Medpac is calling for a rehospitalization impact (negative) to rates for poor performing SNFs.
Ordinarily, Medpac recommendations such as this have more of a “frame the argument” impact than a real implementation objective. Congress has been reluctant to take steps this drastic to any Medicare provider group for fear of industry fall-out and political damage. Yet, as we have seen with the home health industry, greater movement is possible where rate cuts are concerned, particularly if the general tone is that the industry is too profitable and said profit is coming from gaming the system. Double digit margins seem to get even Congressional types’ attention.
Looking at the industry, how the rate reductions in 2011 transpired, the initial report/recommendations from Medpac, and the current public policy environment in Washington, my near term rate outlook for SNFs is as follows.
- All the evidence suggests PPS refinement is forthcoming. The system simply isn’t working adequately in terms of tying payment rates to care costs and rewarding quality. The “behavior” effect that CMS is looking for, namely a movement away from “rate ramping” focused on rehab case-mixes to rate equalization focused on a balanced book of Medicare patients (balanced case-mix) isn’t happening and apparently, isn’t properly incented in the current system.
- Rebasing isn’t far-fetched but it is aways off. CMS is prone to be exceptionally slow at devising payment systems and of course, equally inept at getting the infrastructure to work properly. If as I believe, the first step is PPS refinement, given the likely horizon of implementation, rebasing is farther away; certainly farther than 2014.
- There is no question that payments will become tied to certain quality indicators, especially rehospitalizations. This trend is foretold in the PPACA (Reform) and regardless of the law’s future (life or death or limbo), the payment tied to quality trend is here to stay.
- Politically, the will to champion what will be viewed as over-payments is far less than the will to find ways to rein in excess (or perceived excess). All this means, regardless of the upcoming political cycle and elections, is that lobbying for a system that continues to produce average margins north of 14% will fall on principally deaf ears on the Hill.
- Rates are trending down and I suspect another round of flat to modest decreases in rates forthcoming in October. The push will be system revision as opposed to just rate reductions, feeling that the best approach is to revamp the existing PPS and in so doing, create lower spending overall.
- Time tested arguments against cuts that won’t work or have run their course are as follows;
- Medicare margins are necessary to offset Medicaid losses. This one is good on its face but in reality, its tough to make the case for margins that have run in the 20% range and earnings that have been solid among the for-profit companies. The publicly traded guys need to show pain (in the form of earnings) before Congress will relent on the lack of merit for this argument (publicly traded SNFs tend to have higher MA census and higher Medicare census).
- Access will become an issue and facilities will close. Per Medpac and most industry observers, the supply today is adequate and slightly surplus so some continued shrinkage isn’t a big concern.
- Job losses will certainly occur. The latest cuts from October don’t support this argument by any magnitude. Additionally, the overall health care industry is growing so worker displacement isn’t really a grave concern – movement is easy between providers in most markets.
- Capital will be even more difficult to access with future negative rate outlooks. Again, this is a decent argument but in reality, capital access is provider specific and CMS and policy makers realize that well run, profitable providers will continue to have access to capital, even if the industry outlook is negative. A better argument is that negative industry outlooks make capital marginally more expensive and the number of outlets fewer. This is true only in the short-run however.
So in conclusion, here’s the take-away: Medicare rates are headed down in the near term and in the intermediate term. It is a virtual certainty that the present PPS system will be revised over the next three to five years. The future of the PPACA will impact this process as elements of reform shift the landscape for all providers. The debt discussions in Washington will have literally no direct impact on the future of Medicare SNF payments; the industry share of the overall spending pie is negligible enough to not be overly impacted by automatic cuts in federal spending. The future is one where providers must learn to balance their overall Medicare book/case-mix and focus on quality. Quality incentives/penalties are a certainty and there is no longer any room left to ignore outcomes such as discharges and rehospitalizations. Likewise, I believe bundled payments are forthcoming and the further development of ACOs will continue to shift SNFs to align their care and product/service offerings toward outcome oriented, bundled payments. Medicare as a payer source will remain profitable for many SNFs although not at the same margin levels seen over the past decade. Profitability ranges will trend into the high single digits or perhaps slightly more but only for providers with a well-balanced case-mix. As always however, the key to making money in this declining reimbursement environment stems from solid management, a well-balanced payer mix, and an operating infrastructure that is aligned with the incentives remaining in the industry.
Medicare, Fraud and Why: Perspectives on the Post-Acute Industry
What never ceases to amaze me is the amount of post-news discussion that occurs when certain issues rise to the front-page (or near the front page). Seemingly, industry side-liners awaken and look in disbelief that one major provider organization or another is again, embroiled in some OIG investigation, lawsuit or official inquiry concerning their Medicare billing and/or care provided to Medicare patients. The word “fraud” is tossed out quickly; the shock value of vulgarity at a cocktail party in polite company is expected. Statistics from qualified and unqualified sources burst forth claiming, some correct, that approximately 20 to 30% of care paid for by Medicare is inappropriate, unwarranted, unnecessary or down-right fraudulent. Truth be told, the unwarranted, inappropriate, and unnecessary talk is like Monday morning quarterbacking; an easy sport to engage in when all the facts are visible and the outcomes known. The real question that is rarely, if ever addressed, is “why” do these issues consistently arise and most often, among the same provider organizations.
The simplest answer as to “why” the issues of fraud and inappropriate care and billing arise (routinely) is Medicare itself. Any payment system that rewards via higher payment, greater or increasing levels of acuity and utilization is ripe for provider organizations to chase the greater reward, even if doing so stretches the limit on necessary or warranted care. Think pro sports. Higher dollars go to players that hit more home runs than singles or for average. In fact, less than a few years ago, the prize for the “long ball” was so good that players opted to cheat with chemistry as their true ability alone would not produce the highest return or largest pay days. In economic terms the old axiom of “what gets rewarded gets done” applies. Medicare has a long history of over-valuing certain types of patients, services, etc. while under-valuing others and thus, it is by its own rate and payment methodology, inducing a certain amount of “fraud”. When the rearview mirror test is applied or the hindsight test (that which is 20/20), its fairly easy to look at groupings of payments, diagnostic codes and outcomes and find structural flaws suggesting inappropriate or unnecessary care was provided. The remaining question then revolves around how to pre-examine each event or group of events to a level to assure that no inappropriate care or unnecessary care is rendered. Truth be told, I’m not sure that this question is completely solvable.
In some cases or circumstances notable of late, the word fraud is attached or overtly implied, to events that likely aren’t fraudulent; more indicative of gaming the system. For example, the Senate investigation of Amedysis, Gentiva, Almost Family, etc. was principally tied to an investigation completed by the Wall Street Journal involving therapy visits. At the core, the implication was that these companies “maxed” the number of visits to trigger the highest level of payment. Important to note is that the practice of “clustering” visits around the higher paying thresholds began when Congress created the higher paying threshold out of concern that “therapy” was being limited to home care patients. Of additional interest is the role MedPac played in this event, reporting average profit margins for these organizations approaching the upper teens to twenty percent range.
In the example above, the issue front and center is Medicare profit vs. appropriate level of profit (whatever level this is). With hindsight being 20/20, it is easy to see that perhaps, some therapy was over-provided or in some cases, some patients were selected intentionally because of their therapy or rehab potential. Did the agencies referenced intentionally seek to align their referral development practices and marketing approaches to attract certain patient types? Of course and doesn’t every business do the same? Personally, I have run organizations that did this and provided guidance to others on how to do this. The reality is that some patients are better paying than others and regardless of whether an organization is non-profit or for-profit, the goal of any business is to attract paying customers and preferably, the customers that pay the best. When the incentive is laid forth by Medicare that certain types of care and services come with higher rates of reimbursement, it is only logical that providers will seek to develop business models and systems that garner the highest rate of reimbursement. If unnecessary care was the sole issue of whether these agencies did wrong, I won’t attempt to defend them but alternatively offer the whole health care industry as an example of unnecessary care provided across the spectrum. By our nature and culture, we have come to believe that more is better. An analysis of “unnecessary” in any area from drugs to surgeries to diagnostic tests to hospital stays and physician visits, many of which are/were paid for by Medicare, would clearly show this to a be a systemic problem and as categorized by CMS/OIG and the Senate, fraud and violations of the FCA (False Claims Act).
There isn’t a segment of the post-acute industry that I follow that remains honestly non-participative with regard to Medicare billing impropriety. There also isn’t a segment that isn’t constantly lobbying Congress to continue to shovel more money into Medicare and generally, skewed toward certain categories, diagnoses or patient-types where allegations of fraud routinely arise. Recently, CMS announced a rebasing of RUGs rates for SNFs, primarily targeted at certain therapy categories. A huge cry of doom erupted from the industry and the industry tag alongs, principally therapy companies. I read for days, prognostications of SNF margins turning negative, stock prices falling, layoffs, etc. What was the real issue? Medicare is being used by the industry to routinely subsidize revenue shortfalls that occur via Medicaid. In reality, as Medicare is a bit payer in the SNF world (less than 20% of all days of care), the admission that Medicare is subsidizing other shortfalls is the same as stating that Medicare is overpaying SNFs. For CMS, the issue was about another “miss” in the ongoing game of trying to tie reimbursement to care needs to patient populations. The industry was, as has always been the case, one step ahead in moving its practices to where the money is. No different than the home health industry events, the SNF industry targeted certain types of patients and unquestionably, a portion of the therapy provided may fit the hind-sight definition of “unnecessary” either by level coded or visits actually provided. Stretching the diagnosis, seeking certain referrals, building relationships that are economically advantageous to various parties, etc., is as common in the SNF industry as it is in hospice, home health, and hospitals.
The latest hospice industry news event concerning Vitas and inappropriate referrals of non-terminal patients is indicative of a twist on an old theme, nothing more. While this instance is truly creative by definition, involving an insurer and a provider, both potentially culpable in a scheme to shift costs and maximize reimbursement, it still only rises to the level of “old news”. For years, the hospice industry has been rife with a similar dance played between hospices and SNFs. Caught or most recently on display doing this dance is Aseracare. In this dance, hospices circulate among SNFs with high Medicaid census and patient profiles marked by long-term dementia and debility; custodial care by definition. The hospice, in need of additional patients, tells the SNF that it can qualify many of these types of patients for the Medicare hospice benefit and in exchange, the SNF will continue to keep the Medicaid daily rate but the hospice will assume drug costs, supply costs, even DME costs plus augment the staffing. As a kicker, the transition of the patient to the care of the hospice provides some regulatory relief to the SNF as now the overall care of this patient shifts to the hospice and documentation, assessments, and other paperwork otherwise required by the SNF no longer apply. As expected, a win-win of sorts appears. The hospice gets daily rate from Medicare, the SNF the daily rate from Medicaid, the hospice census improves, the SNF census remains the same, etc. The real winner here however is the hospice as an SNF patient is fairly inexpensive to care for as the SNF provides much of the care infrastructure. Visits to SNF patients are typically fewer than a comparable home-bound/community patient and by the nature of many of the patients qualified in this scenario, the length of stay on hospice is considerably longer – a nice stable, revenue stream. Using the 20/20 hindsight view however, shows that a preponderance of these SNF patients don’t fit much of the Medicare hospice criteria and in the acid test category of likely terminal in six months or less, a plausible argument can’t be made.
In the quest for higher reimbursement in an environment facing Medicare spending minimization, control and cuts. behaviors and tactics become irrational and by their very nature, borderline or outright fraudulent. The most rampant that I see is upcoding or creating phantom diagnoses and need where none truly exists. The hospice illustration above is one such example. Others that are common include “stretch-rugging” by therapy companies and SNFs, discharging dually-eligible Medicare SNF patients to hospitals when the medical needs (and supposed costs) increase, and back-dating orders. In some cases, the activity is subtle such as SNFs that are willing to take below fee-schedule discounts for laboratory and radiology services for Medicare residents, even though doing so could lead to a Stark violation for the SNF. The whole chase is about trying to maximize the net revenue under Medicare, either by increasing the volume or minimizing the costs associated with caring for these patients.
Still, the question begs as to “why” this level of fraudulent or inappropriate activity persists and, in-spite of well published examples of providers getting caught. As I wrote earlier, a portion is due to the fundamental flaws inherent with Medicare, how it pays and the program benefit structure. Chalking it all up however, to Medicare while easy, is like solving half of a crossword puzzle and calling it done. In my follow-up post, I’ll provide a bit more clarity as to what I see, are the reasons “why”.
Hospice Census: Where’s It At?
A common question I am fielding has to do with the current “no growth” pattern of hospice census; in some cases, decline is more operative of the pattern. Briefly, there are a number of factors at play, some recurring themes and some driven by more aggressive CMS intervention.
- The biggest culprit in the current no-growth situation is the economy. I’ve written about this issue before but it clearly bears repeating. In a down economy, paying patients are more scarce than in a healthy(ier) economy. Assuming as has been the case, provider growth or supply hasn’t declined substantially (if at all) during the recession to current level of stagnation; the same number of providers are chasing a lesser number of “paying” patients. The reality is such that each provider seeks patients that can pay and ranks or grades patient value by payer source; some patients are worth more than others. As hospice is primarily a “down stream” referral, generally coming from an acute environment, the base of referrals starts with the supply of paying patients within the hospital. For most if not all hospitals, patients with good private insurance are the most prized. Medicare comes next and Medicaid next and everything else well below. For hospice, the bulk of referrals are Medicare followed by Medicaid and private insurance to a far lesser degree. When the supply of patients with private insurance declines due to economic malaise for a prolonged period (as current with high unemployment) and the level of elective procedures dies rapidly, all other paying patients become more prized by the hospital; their value increases. As the value of these other patients rises and isn’t replaced quickly with private insureds, the realization of keeping Medicare and Medicaid patients within the system and the hospital as an economic necessity (paying the bills) trumps the value of referring down stream. In short, the demand from a supply of private insureds for beds and services isn’t great enough today to push these other patients out of the acute system. Economically speaking, if I am a hospital, I will maximize whatever revenue source is available to me such that doing so is better than nothing as no immediate alternative or replacement is available.
- While overall census hasn’t grown much over the last few years (if at all), CMS’ concern regarding the composition of hospice census has. The primary focal point is around nursing home patients on hospice and their proclivity as a sub-group to account for longer lengths of stay. Not surprising, as the sources for non-nursing home patients have remained stagnant or declined, hospice activity in nursing homes has steadily increased. What CMS is concerned about today is the growth of the longest stays, principally where these stays occur and what diagnoses correlate to these stays. A notable aside and one that cannot be ignored is the type of hospice ownership that seems to drive the majority of long-length stays. The facts below combined with an OIG workplan emphasis that is focused on reviewing the business relationships between hospices and skilled nursing facilities correlates directly to a softer environment for census gains derived via nursing homes. If the term Hawthorne Effect (behavior modification that occurs as a result of being watched or monitored) comes to mind, I’ve made my point.
- The longest stays occur on average, in nursing homes and assisted living environments.
- The average length of stay in-service for a for-profit hospice is 30 days longer or 33% longer compared to a non-profit hospice.
- The bulk of industry growth in terms of organizations providing hospice has been for-profit, free-standing hospices. The rest of the industry growth has remained essentially flat.
- For-profit margins of free-standing hospices average 10 to 11% compared to non-profit margins of 3%.
- A recent OIG report on hospice care provided in nursing homes found that 82% of the cases reviewed did not meet Medicare coverage requirements.
- In the grand universe of all health care options, hospice care remains a decided niche’. For non-health care people, its tough to wrap your head around a care approach that by its nature, offers no “curative” option. For all too many individual patients and their families, this option is too often viewed as “giving up”.
- Marketing has caused some erosion but marketing on behalf of non-hospice providers. Cancer remains the primary cause of a hospice referral yet for every hospice advertisement I encounter, I encounter a literal ten to one (if not more) advertisements for hospital-based cancer treatment programs or distinct hospitals (think Cancer Treatment Centers of America). While I know the overall survival numbers, costs, logistics, etc. as well as any one, the general patient and their family does not. The treatment approaches are phenomenally positive and reassuring regarding themes of “hope”, “cure”, etc., even for the most desperate of diagnoses. The hospice message is frankly trumped quickly as to the unitiated, it is still about death. The result: Referrals that should have come sooner perhaps are not coming at all or coming closer to the final days.
Taken the above into account and CMS data regarding a projected growth in outlays for FY 2012 of 2.8% (Medicare), an amount that is almost entirely rate driven, expect continued stagnation on the census side. Until the economy improves and more certainty is forward on the future of health care reform, growth in terms of new volume is not soon to arrive.
Current Policy Trends to Watch
In response to a recent series of questions from multiple segments of the health care and post-acute industry plus my own experiences within the landscape of providers and policy makers, I’ve summarized a current list of policy trends “pay attention to”.
Medicare Cuts and the Super Committee: Nothing seems to loom larger or cast a bigger shadow than the prospect of outlay reductions from Medicare translating into rate cuts for providers. Here is the core everyone should focus on. First, the recurring “Doc Fix” issue that Congress has repeatedly kicked down the road time and time again. Let the current patch dissolve and voila, a big chunk of spending disappears (a 30% rate cut on January 1) - albeit with enormous likely consequences in terms of patient access, service reductions, etc. Fix the problem permanently or more likely substantially, and additional non-budgeted spending occurs – a problem. Presently “on the table” so to speak is a recommendation from MedPac to fix the problem via repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate formula (the trigger for the current “cut” scenario) and replace the formula with a schedule of Physician Fee Schedule updates over a ten-year period. The updates would target primary care physicians at the expense of specialists who would experience a 5.9% cut across a three-year period, followed by a fee schedule freeze. Altogether, this is a fix but one that comes with new spending if no additional changes are made. Likewise, the probability of this being a workable compromise within the medical community is minimal. There remains a side problem to this whole mess and it relates to the number of other Med B services tied to the SGR such as outpatient therapies.
Back to the Super Committee and the prospect of triggered automatic cuts to Medicare. The Committee is charged via last summer’s debt ceiling deal, to arrive at a deficit reduction of $1.5 trillion to be implemented over 10 years, sourced either through spending cuts, new revenues or a combination of the two. Based on what we know today and have consistently experienced over the past year or better, Congress lacks the political will and capability to achieve a consensus on just about any subject. Given that we are also hip-deep in a political cycle with elections nearly one-year away, compromise on a plan is less and less likely. If such a plan cannot pass or isn’t available by the deadline, current law requires an automatic cut of $1.2 trillion to occur, balanced across domestic and military spending. Within the triggered cuts in domestic spending is a 2% cut to Medicare provider reimbursement. This cut would be automatically on-top of, any other current reductions or cuts to providers that occurred as a result of CMS normal-cycle rule making. For example, the 2% would be added to the 11% outlay reduction for SNFs. Interesting to note, Medicaid is unaffected by the automatic reduction trigger. Boiling this all down, here is what is likely “on the table” and could conceivably play out.
- Medicaid is likely at greater risk for some kind of spending reduction package as Medicare and Social Security have the greatest political protection. My best guess, not that this will actually occur or pass, is direct discussions with regard to block grants as an expenditure reduction, broader waivers to States to eliminate current pressure for additional federal support, slow-down of health care reform Medicaid expansion to avoid the additional up-front federal support/funding required by current law.
- Some levels of additional programmatic delays or even, defunding of the Health Care Reform act. Congress loves to think of “not funding” a future expenditure as a “cut”.
- A Medicare realignment approach will be strongly considered. Under realignment, the Commission could conceivably adopt an approach similar to pieces advocated by Paul Ryan namely, higher retirement/eligibility age, premium support for privatization of health coverage (vouchers) or even some level of excess benefit taxation on wealthier retirees (in effect, an imputation of a premium cost for certain income levels). This approach is bolder than other less invasive options.
Medicaid: Notwithstanding my comments on Medicaid in the section above on Medicare and the Super Committee, states continue to wrestle with Medicaid deficits and the real prospects of flat or possibly shrinking, federal funding support. For most states, Medicaid represents the second largest expenditure item within their budgets, just behind education spending. Federal support levels average in the 50% to 60% range. Additionally, the majority of states continue to operate on a fee-for-service platform, bearing all of the direct program and care service cost plus the administrative burden. In a flat to down economic cycle, demand for Medicaid services rises for states as eligibility rolls swell with rising levels of unemployment. At the same time, down to flat economic periods reduce state income collected via taxation; the principal source of initial, core funding for Medicaid (the FMAP provisions require states to allocate first-dollar, the source of which is predominantly taxes). The three trends to watch with Medicaid, all of which I am seeing occur regularly, are;
- A push toward privatization and managed care. States are looking at ways to better coordinate services, create some competitive bidding models, and reduce administrative burdens. Managed Medicaid programs have proven succesful in achieving these goals (some more than others).
- Increasing numbers of programmatic waiver requests to the Federal government. A major issue with the enhanced FMAP funding that came via the Stimulus Bill is that the funds came with strings attached, primarily a requirement that the enhanced funding be used for eligibility expansion, program expansion, and expanded benefits. In July of this year, the enhanced funding disappeared leaving many states with an equal or greater structural Medicaid deficit and still lacking a sufficient economic recovery to garner the necessary “state grown” revenue to sustain not just former program levels but program and benefit expansion driven by the enhanced FMAP. States are increasingly looking to the Federal government today for relief or “waivers” that undo what was put in place to garner the enhanced FMAP.
- Increased provider taxes and decreased payment levels are a given for the vast majority of states. I haven’t yet encountered a state Medicaid plan that wasn’t considering or already implementing, some form of provider tax increases and/or reduced payments to providers. Of most reductions, the target appears squarely focused on the HCBS (Home and Community-Based Services) segment, inclusive of Medicaid waiver programs for Assisted Living and Congregate Housing (Medicaid payments made for supportive, assisted care to a population at-risk of institutionalization).
Miscellaneous/Other: This is a catch-all of five separates trends or issues that in some ways, are inter-related to the Medicare and Medicaid sections and in some ways, separate. To be sure, I could have expanded this section by a magnitude of ten and still not touched on every policy issue presently at play. I opted for the five I hear discussed routinely or I encounter frequently in my work.
- Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs): The first release of draft rules from CMS in March of this year produced a non-starter response from providers. The initial draft implied a series of cumbersome and poorly defined steps for creation, sustainment, operating and quality measures (65 quality measures required for bonus payments) that chilled providers. Earlier this year when the draft was released, I wrote an analysis piece on the draft and the implications for post-acute providers ( http://wp.me/ptUlY-8H ). Clearly, my analysis paralleled the reactions that CMS received regarding the proposed rules. Just this week, CMS released a revised ACO set of rules and to a fairly large degree, softened and clarified the objectionable elements contained in the March draft. Summarized, here are the major changes. Time will tell whether these changes spur additional interest in ACO development.
- Reduction in quality measures from 65 to 33.
- Providers are not required to share in the down-side risk and will be able to access earlier, elements of revenue sharing. The initial version required all original savings returned to Medicare prior to any revenue sharing.
- Community Health Centers and Rural Clinics will be permitted within the ACO model – originally excluded.
- Providers will know up-front which patients are likely to be included within the ACO - originally, not known until after the ACO was formed – a removal or limitation on unknown adverse selection/population risk.
- Inclusion of an Advanced Payment Provision for smaller ACOs, creating initial streams of payment or capital that allows infrastructure investments needed to formulate an ACO to effectively be funded by CMS. this provision only applies to non-institutional ACOs (physician practices) of $50 million or less or rural based ACOs with Critical Access Hospitals or low Medicare volume rural hospitals.
- Removal of the mandatory anti-trust review procedure for new ACOs by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. This was a significant gray-area issue in the March draft.
- CMS Movement to Split Provider Pharmacies from Consulting Pharmacy Duties: In an effort to combat what it believes is a conflict of interest between quality and quantity in the SNF pharmacy delivery/provision process, CMS is proposing a requirement that would prohibit the dispensing pharmacy from also being the consulting pharmacy in the SNF. In short, one entity would be required to dispense the medication and the SNF would need to contract or employ, a separate consulting pharmacist or group to review and establish, clinical pharmaceutical plans of care. CMS assumes that this change will reduce the overall number of medications provided and improve care delivery. Perhaps but unlikely. The true outcome is likely about the same level of prescription use in SNFs and higher costs for the SNF. Consulting pharmacists and pharmacists in general are in short supply. For most SNFs, finding a consulting pharmacist separate from the providing organization will be difficult and expensive. Even more problematic will be finding an independent consulting pharmacist or group with sufficient long-term care and geriatric experience to be of any benefit at all; for residents and the facility. My take here is that CMS is wary of continued consolidation of institutional pharmacy providers such as Omnicare and PharMerica and is seeking a back-door method for constraining their growth across the post-acute spectrum.
- Doc-Fix and Sustainable Growth Formula: I touched on this earlier but there is a real side issue to watch and it has nothing to do with the payment issue to physicians. The SGR and the physician payment formula also encapsulates a whole host of outpatient services tied to this element of Part B. For post-acute providers, the target to watch is outpatient or Part B therapy rules and payments. As goes the SGR debate, so goes the prospects for payments for other Part B services such as therapies. Frankly, any fix to the SGR and physician fee schedule issues needs to occur separate from the other Part B elements presently included within the SGR mess.
- Home and Community Based Services: What once was a flourishing sub-industry is soon to be no longer. I touched on this briefly in the section on Medicaid. This element is at significant risk for post-acute providers as funding is tight and most states are looking at any opportunity possible to reduce their HCBS programs, reign in eligibility growth or receive waivers from the Feds for wholesale discontinuation of certain programs. The reason? Institutional care and medical care cannot by law be cut whereas these programs are waiver programs; not presently, expressly required by Federal law.
- Tighter Regulatory Scrutiny: Somewhat parallel to the pharmacy issue above, CMS is foretelling a renewed vigilance on certain post-acute practices and relationships. I am reading and hearing all too many comments and stories regarding CMS closely watching and even planning to directly interject via probes and audits ( and perhaps rule-making), relationships between SNFs and contract therapy companies, pharmacies (see above) and SNFs, SNFs and Hospices, and ancillary medical equipment providers (wound vacs, specialized mattresses, fall prevention devices, etc) and SNFs. The tone here is that CMS believes these relationships exist to optimize profit for the parties and to capture larger elements of reimbursement, not to improve care outcomes or efficiencies.
- Increasing Demands on Physician Engagement: For most post-acute providers, physician engagement such that the same was tied directly to reimbursement was never a major issue. This trend unfortunately, is here to stay and will increase. CMS believes that in Hospice and Home Health particularly, unneccessary services were provided without established medical necessity or justification. Both home health and hospice now have face-to-face requirements for physician certification of necessity for services/care. The next phase of this, and I guarantee this will happen in the next year or two, is direct engagement and oversight of CMS in the relationships between physicians and the organizations and the content of the documentation of medical necessity or justification. Providers need to be vigilant here or face claim denials in increasing numbers.
SNFs: What to do Now for October 1
As known by now, a lot of change is occurring with Medicare effective 10/1. Daily, I field questions from around the country regarding what exactly is happening and what if anything an SNF should do to “minimize” the impact. To a certain extent, at least as far as reimbursement reductions go, it is difficult and ill-advised to adjust too hastily or rapidly. Longer-term planning is required to fundamentally, re-balance a payer mix. This said however, all SNFs should be looking at their business models realizing that the long-term rate outlook on Medicare is best case flat, most probable declining.
Below I’ve accumulated and summarized, my top five recommendations/answers to the most common “what do we do next” questions. For reality purposes, I assume (as it will happen) that rate reductions as called-for in the CMS final PPS rule will occur. I understand that Congress may choose to intercede but given my sense of the current political climate and the economic issues at hand, I think it ill-conceived not to assume reduction and bet on “lobbying” to reinvent higher rates.
- Begin Balancing Your Payer Mix: Out of all of the SNFs I have analyzed recently, those that have a truly balanced payer mix with appropriate revenue sources will fare well to fairly well, even with the pending Medicare cuts. Balanced looks different to different SNFs but in reality, they all share common traits. First, Medicare isn’t their sole source of margin. Second, their Medicare case-mix is well mixed with rehab and clinical qualifiers, perhaps a shade more clinically complex than rehab only. Third, they have strong overall clinical competencies and thus, attract patients with other payer sources such as private insurance. Finally, Medicaid is equal to or less than a third (no more) of their payer mix. To balance an SNF payer mix, the facility/organization must undertake a strategy to define service/product mix, add clinical competency, build referral sources for different patients, and improve overall operating efficiencies aligning staffing and service delivery with effective care outcomes. This strategy is not about optimizing Medicare reimbursement (though it does that), it’s about building a care engine that performs across payer sources.
- Develop a Solid Understanding of Medicare Reimbursement: Many providers I talk with have only a rudimentary understanding of the current PPS system and most of what they have learned comes from the wrong sources; sources that are partial to a particular bent or issue. Even with the cuts, providers who understand how to take advantage of caring for a more clinically complex patient profile and get reimbursed for their work, aren’t horribly at-risk for major revenue swings. They have developed internal core competency in coding, in managing the length of stay, and in capturing the true care needs of the patient. They bring in the necessary training resources and have staff resources that help maximize their productivity and care delivery. They know how the system works, don’t try to deny the changes, and develop the systems and the people necessary to be current, use the MDS effectively and capture the dollars in the form of reimbursement, correctly.
- Analyze the Impact: If reimbursement cuts are forthcoming, and they are, I hear too many vague generalities about how much and “the sky is falling” rhetoric. Frankly, most providers I talk with haven’t modeled the financial impact as of yet and as the old adage goes, “you can’t begin to fix what you don’t know is broken”. In some cases, simple tweaks to operations can improve the actual impact. In other cases, changes to internal delivery systems, coding, etc. can improve the revenue impact (positively). Suffice to say, knowing what the impact is today can help a provider hone in on what options are available to mitigate the “pending” damage.
- Understand the Totality of What is Changing: It is easy to reflect solely on one element of the Medicare equation that is changing in October; revenue or reimbursement. The problem most providers also face is that certain systemic changes are occurring such as the allocation of treatment time for group therapy, the requirements for End of Therapy OMRAs and the Assessment Reference Date windows. As October 1 is 30 days away, providers should have already gotten up-to-speed on these changes and begun implementing policy, procedure and systemic internal changes to address the new requirements. As change requires education, adjustment, audits and then additional education and/or adjustments, starting too late equates to getting claims wrong. Ask any provider that has gone through a probe or had claims rejected what that revenue impact is; far worse and impactful than a rate cut.
- Focus on Therapy: When I encounter SNFs with major Medicare issues, I see three common problematic themes. First, for facilities that use outside therapy or contract therapy providers, the facility has “washed” their hands of the Medicare therapy issues. This is a problem on so many levels. As I have written before, the therapy company is not the provider, the SNF is. Under Part A, the SNF is always the provider and as a result, any problems caused by incorrect billing, improper care, improper coding, etc., perpetuated by a contractor is a problem for the Part A provider. Basically, the liability cannot be ceded to a contractor. The SNF must know as much about the provision of therapy under Part A as it does the provision of nursing care or any other discipline. And most important, while therapy companies claim that they develop partnerships with SNFs, the reality is far from a true partnership. For a partnership to actually occur, the risks and benefits must be equally shared. Such is not the case in these relationships. In this relationship, each (the SNF and the therapy company) have different business and profit motivations such that at times, the interests may compete in ways deleterious to the SNF, left unabated. Second, if a provider has its own program and staff, the therapy component is rarely fully integrated with all other care disciplines. In short, all too often therapy is looked at as purely a profit center rather than an integral part of the clinical care delivery an SNF provides. Therapy involvement, assessment, and integration into the total care plan of all residents/patients prevents problems in terms of care outcomes, helps capture additional revenue via reimbursement, and improves the overall clinical competency of the care team. Third, all too many administrators have no idea the role therapy provides in their Medicare or general care delivery. Suffice to say that if an Administrator wants higher per diems, better care outcomes, better compliance results, its time to learn the overall MDS and understand where therapy integrates in Medicare, how this system works (not just the revenue generated) and how therapy can improve the overall operating performance of an SNF (revenue and expense).
Before I conclude, I have three remaining suggestions to issues that I commonly address in the SNF world. These suggestions are pertinent at all times for an SNF that is seeking to improve its operations, regardless of the reimbursement issues that are “at-play”.
- Develop Centers of Excellence: Trying to be all things to all patient types, etc. in an industry segment as wide as the SNF arena is a recipe for failure or at best, average to below average results (operating and other). Not every SNF will excel in a post-acute, transitional care environment. Markets are different, referral source needs are different, etc. By developing an acute awareness of market needs, referral source needs, etc., an SNF can focus-in and develop, centers or “lines’ of care excellence. Three things happen or should with this approach. First, occupancy issues are less prevalent. The SNF knows its flow of patients and can set aside the right amount of capacity for the length of stay and volume requirements dictated by a group of patients. Second, efficiency in terms of staffing, supplies, programs, care plans, etc. can truly be developed. Third, building a true revenue model is far easier. A revenue model is driven by an expectation of certain occupancy, revenue streams from each patient type, and pricing/reimbursement models that accentuate revenue. Expenses can then be matched accordingly.
- Suppress and Evaporate “Stupid Money”: Stupid money is dollars that are spent on things that can be controlled by an SNF or any business. It saps resources and margin. Common locations of stupid money are Worker’s Comp, agency use, over-time, supply waste, improper coding, fines, forfeitures, billing errors, staff turnover, and compliance/legal issues. Minimizing the dollar flow and/or eliminating it for “stupid money” immediately improves the bottom-line. I don’t know how many dollars over the years I have seen across all of the facilities I have been in that get wasted repeatedly, on stupid money issues.
- Develop Care Systems/Algorithms: SNFs that really excel financially and from a care/outcome perspective, have gotten very good at developing common protocols and algorithms for common admission diagnoses. They have become efficient and effective at delivering high quality, lower cost care by reducing the variances and treatment fluctuations that arise when care is unplanned or uncoordinated. They have developed formularies, treatment protocols, and outcome-based algorithms for the most common types of admissions and issues faced by patients within their settings. Some have gone as far as to coordinate this work within their upstream and downstream referral networks (home health on discharge, hospital on admission/re-admission). These SNFs make solid, repeat margins, have balanced payer mixes and are positioned appropriately for the next foray into healthcare reform; namely bundled payments, competitive bidding, ACOs and quality-based incentive payments.
Post-Acute Outlook Post Debt Ceiling, Post Medicare Rate Adjustments, Etc.
OK, the title is a bit wordy and trust me, I could have included more “posts” but I think I got the point across. First, I’ll admit to having a crystal ball however, the picture I see is a bit like the first (and only) television set I remember having as a kid: Not in color, lines running vertically and horizontally, snow, and an antenna that required frequent manipulation and tin foil to get any kind of reception. And of course, there were only three channels available. The same today is true about my crystal ball on health policy and what to expect in the post-acute industry.
My crystal ball’s three channels are Medicare, Medicaid and the Economy. Reviewing each, here’s the programming I see for the fall lineup or if you prefer, the period post October 1 (fiscal year 2012) through early next year.
The Economy: The debt ceiling discussion and the actions taken by S&P and the Fed in the last couple of weeks are a reminder via a cold slap, of how mired in dysfunction Washington remains and how moribund the economy truly is. While technically not in a recession, the economy is not really growing either; a growth rate of less than 2% in GDP is like treading water. For unemployment to change, consumers to return and capital to re-enter the business investment side, GDP growth needs to be above 2% and ideally north of 4% for a sustained period. Unfortunately, in order for this to occur, fiscal policy in Washington needs to develop some semblance of coherency and consistency.
What I know from my economics training and background and my last twenty-five years plus in the healthcare industry boils down to some fairly simple concepts. These concepts are I believe, a solid framework for providers to use in terms of planning for the near future and even somewhat beyond.
- The U.S. debt level is fueled to a great degree by entitlement spending, less so by discretionary spending. If the prevailing wind is about debt reduction and balance in the federal budget (or getting closer to balance), two things must occur. First, spending constraint where spending primarily occurs, namely entitlements. Second, revenue increases in some fashion, namely taxes. The devil as we know it today, is how and where on both sides of the ledger (revenue and expenses). Spending reductions alone are insufficient, unless dramatic, to significantly lower the debt level or balance the budget; particularly in a period of near zero economic growth. Dramatic spending reductions are clearly unwise and potentially, deleterious to an industry sector (healthcare) that continues to provide steady employment. Similarly, for spending reductions on entitlements to truly have a positive impact and make sense, program reform must be at the forefront of “why” less spending is needed or warranted. Program reform, ala the health care reform bill which didn’t really reform Medicare or Medicaid but added new layers of entitlements, is far from the answer. For providers, there is no immediate or for that matter, longer-range future that doesn’t entail less spending on Medicare or Medicaid. As the only “trick” in Washington’s bag or the bags contained in the statehouses is rate cuts, anticipate and plan for the same.
- A lackluster, no growth economy with high unemployment levels fuels provider competition wars over paying patients. As fewer paying patients are available and/or fewer “good” paying patients are available, providers will compete for the same market share within and across the industry levels. What this means is that providers will seek to acquire market share within industry segments (home health, hospice, SNF, etc.) and across industry levels (hospitals seeking to maintain patient days versus referring to post-acute providers). The end result is more or similar levels of M&A activity, if capital remains available, and thus, consolidation that is driven primarily by market share motives.
- According to a recent healthcare expenditure outlook released by CMS, healthcare spending is projected to reach $4.6 trillion by the end of the decade, representing nearly 20% of GDP. The primary contributor to this projected level of growth is the Affordable Care Act, principally due to the expansion of Medicaid and the requirements for private insurance coverage (Medicaid growth of 20.3%). While CMS notes that Medicare spending may slow somewhat, this assumption is predicated upon the continuation of spending cuts and a 29.4% reduction in physician payment rates required under the current Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. Assuming, as has historically occurred, Congress evacuates the cuts called for under the SGR and as has been discussed, moves to a formula tying payment to the Medicare Economic Index, Medicare spending accelerates to a 6.6% growth rate (1.7% projected for 2012 with continuation of the SGR). Summarized, health spending is the two ton gorilla in the room and it will continue to have a heavy, significant influence on economic policy discussions at the federal level and beyond. Though I don’t agree with the recent rating action taken by S&P, it is impossible to ignore the consensus opinions of allof the rating agencies: Entitlement spending, namely driven by healthcare spending, is unsustainable at its present level with the present level of income support (taxation) and as long as the status quo remains fundamentally unchanged, the U.S. economy is not fundamentally stable.
- Current economic realities and the rating agencies actions and statements foreshadow a stormy, near term future for the healthcare industry. As is always the case, there will be winners and losers or more on-point, those more directly impacted and those less so. On the post-acute side, excluding reimbursement impacts, I’ve summarized my views on what I see in terms of economic impacts for the near term (below).
- The credit rating side will remain pessimistic for most of the industry “brick and mortar” providers. Moody’s, Fitch, et.al. will continue to have negative outlooks on CCRCs, SNFs, etc. primarily due to the economic realities of the housing market, investment markets, and reimbursement outlook. Within this group of brick and mortar providers, Assisted Living Facilities will fair the best as they are the least impacted by the housing market and for all intents and purposes, minimally impacted by reimbursement issues (save the providers that choose to play in the HCBS/Medicaid-waiver arena).
- The publicly traded companies (primarily SNFs but home health and LTACHs as well) will continue to see stock price suppression due to the unfavorable outlooks and credit downgrades provided by the rating agencies. This will occur regardless of the favorable earnings posted by some of the companies. Reimbursement trends (down) are the primary driver combined with the hard reality that Medicaid is in serious financial trouble, even more so going forward as enrollment jumps due to continued healthcare reform phase-in schedules.
- Capital market access will continue to be tight to inaccessible for some providers. Reimbursement, negative rating agency outlooks, lending/banking reform, above historic levels of failures/bankruptcies, etc. all continue and will remain as an overhang to the lending environment. Problems with potential continued stable to increasing funding levels at Fannie, HUD, etc. create additional credit negativity and tighter funding flow. Capital access, when available, will continue to have a credit premium attached, in-spite of low base rates. I expect to see continued development and demand for private equity participation.
- Given the above, financially driven mergers and acquisitions will remain somewhat higher as organizations seek to use the M&A arena to create financially stable partnerships and bigger or larger platforms from which to derive credit/capital access.
Medicare: The problems with Medicare are too deep and lengthy to rehash here and thus, I’ll move to brevity. Medicare is, as I have written before, horribly inefficient, bureaucratic, and inadequately funded to remain or be, viable. As a result, only two real scenarios exist today: Cut outlays or increase revenues. Arguably, a third that involves portions of each scenario is the most probable solution. Real reform is light-years away as the current and forseeable political future foretells no scenario that includes a Ryanesque option (Paul Ryan plan from the Republican Congressional Budget and/or Roadmap for America). Viewed in this light, the Medicare outlook for post-acute providers is as follows.
- For SNFs and Home Health Agencies, reimbursement levels are on the decline. The OIG for CMS and MedPac have each weighed-in that providers are being overpaid. Profit margins as a result of Medicare payments or attributable to Medicare, are deemed too high (mid to upper teens) and as such, the prevailing wind is payment or outlay reductions. The bright-side if such exists, and as I have written before, this “cutting” trend will impact some providers far more than others. The providers that have relied heavily and primarily on certain patient types for reimbursement gains will be more negatively impacted than providers with a more “balanced” book – a more diverse clinical case mix. The movement is toward a more balanced level and thus lower level, of reimbursement theoretically closer aligned with the actual clinical care needs of patients. Providers with more diverse revenue streams and more overall case-mix balance will not be as adversely impacted although, the Medicare revenue stream will be lower or less profitable.
- Hospice has remained relatively unharmed, principally due to its lower overall outlay from the program. It remains a less-costly level of care than other institutional alternatives. A note of caution here is important. While rates have not been cut, program reform is occurring on the fringes and I suspect a wholesale re-design of the Medicare Hospice benefit is forthcoming. In such a fashion, payment reform rather than rate reform or reduction will occur. The obvious trend is to restructure payments away from a reward for lengthier stays and to require more precise determinations of terminality, tied to a tighter or imminent expectation of death. OIG and MedPac have issued a number of papers and memos regarding the relationships between Hospice and SNFs that correlate to longer stays for certain diagnoses. Summarized, payment reductions via rate are less of an issue but utilization reform is forthcoming via additional regulation designed to reduce overall payments to Hospices or as CMS would say, to more closely align payments to the real necessity of care for qualified, terminally ill patients. Without question, the largest impact (negative) going forward will be on hospices that have sizable revenue flows tied to nursing home patients.
- LTACHs are in a similar reimbursement boat as hospice; small overall outlay within the program and for the past few years, minimal expenditure growth. The industry is from a cost perspective, fundamentally flat. What will be interesting to watch is whether under certain aspects of healthcare reform, this niche’ takes on a growth spurt. Bundled payments, ACOs (Accountable Care Organizations), and shifts in SNF reimbursement away from higher acuity, rehab patients may lead toward more utilization of the LTACH product. This being said, the prevailing Medicare reimbursement profile is fundamentally flat. Given a bit more creativity on the part of the LTACH provider community, this segment may be poised for some growth, although not directly via increasing payments.
- The most uncertainty lies on the Part B provider side, particularly providers that are reimbursement “connected” to the Physician Fee Schedule (therapy for example). As of today, the required change to the fee schedule as a result of the Sustainable Growth Rate formula is a fee cut of 29.4%. It is quite possible, due to the current negative or flat growth trajectory of the economy, and sans any change in the law, for fees to be cut again in 2013, barring Congressional action. Most acutely impacted in this scenario are physicians and predominantly, primary care physicians. I have yet to see a Congress that fails to intercede and repair cuts this draconian but the political times and the budget deficit debates are markedly different than during any prior period. Critical to whether this cut or some level less than this is implemented is the issue of access, already a hot topic for physicians. Physicians, particularly primary care specialists, are already in short-supply nationally, woefully short in certain markets. If cuts of this magnitude or perhaps any magnitude roll forward, I suspect many physicians will curtail or close their practice to new Medicare patients. On the other side represented by non-physician providers, Part B cuts of this magnitude will no doubt limit service and access. Fixing the formula and the law has been difficult for Congress as the dollar implications are substantial. I foresee another round of patches, etc., occurring close to the “cut” date, especially since 2012 is an election year.
Medicaid: For as many reasons as Medicare is a mess, Medicaid is as well, though magnified by a factor of two or more. Medicaid’s biggest problem now is rapid growing enrollment, primarily due to high unemployment and upcoming federal eligibility changes mandated via the Accountable Care Act (healthcare reform). Given Medicaid’s current funding structure, this issue poses huge problems in flat to negative growth economies. States simply due not have the revenue to create a higher matching threshold or level, necessary to achieve more federal dollars. In July, the enhanced federal match provided via the Recovery Act (stimulus) sunsetted leaving states with huge structural deficits and the prospect of deficit growth due to increasing enrollment. In virtually every state, rate cuts have been discussed and in half-again as many, implemented. States continue to move to the federal government seeking relief from required or imputed service provision requirements and/or relief from eligibility requirements (waivers). The inherent difficulty with balancing Medicaid funding is that the same is directly tied to stable to growing state revenues and a clear picture of population risk or need. Changing (increasing) populations often present adverse-risk scenarios, creating higher than normative utilization. For obvious reasons, lower than market reimbursement levels, access is a big issue. Not all providers willingly and openly desire Medicaid patients and those that do are not on the increase. Without additional funding assistance at a level beyond what is called for in the Accountable Care Act, regulatory relief and an improving economy, the reimbursement prospects under Medicaid are all bleak.
- In the post-acute environment, the biggest impact of this continued ugly Medicaid scenario will fall directly on SNFs. Matching prospective or real Medicaid cuts with Medicare cuts forthcoming is a true “negative” Perfect Storm. For most SNFs, Medicaid is the largest payer source and until recent, Medicare was used as a make-up funding source for Medicaid reimbursement shortfalls. Adding fuel to an already smoldering fire, the suppressed earnings available to seniors, no growth in Social Security payments, and a stock market that presently produces only a flat return trajectory limits the pool of private paying and privately insured patients. In short, there is no additional room on the revenue side to make-up an SNFs Medicaid losses. For SNFs, only the few that have limited leverage, high occupancy, an extremely balanced payer mix, and stable staffing will weather the Medicaid near term future; a future of no rate increases or likely cuts.
- While not a huge segment of the post-acute environment, HCBs providers will feel the Medicaid pinch as well. As a result of needing to reign in Medicaid spending, states are rapidly curtailing their funding and payment levels for HCBs programs. While most states still claim that HCBs expansion would help soften their Medicaid deficit, states that bit a big bullet in this arena early on (California for one), now realize that waiver programs produce massive new levels of beneficiaries who want and need access to community support services. SNF access was already somewhat limited as the industry has truly shrunk but the demand for services in this growing eligibility pool has expanded. Funding these services is becoming a real problem for states and as such, support payments will remain flat, decline and program growth will be capped.
- Home Health will also feel a bite from declining Medicaid funding although its Medicaid utilization levels are modest at best. For Home Health, Medicare is the big dog and Medicaid a minor element. Staffing costs are on the rise for Home Health as the competition for home health aides in many markets is brutal or getting rough. Competition, even in a high unemployment environment, for certain categories of employees, raises wages and benefit costs. Staffing is the largest expense for a home health agency and as such, a scenario with rising employment costs and flat to declining reimbursement negatively impacts margins. I don’t see this scenario changing any time soon.
Concluding, this may be one of my most depressing posts, if for no other reason than the current external view is dreary and nothing foreshadows improving weather. For brick and mortar providers, capital access is critical, especially for SNFs who have as a profile, some of the oldest physical plants. SNFs are capital-intensive operations and without an ability to fluidly and reasonably, access modest cost funds, deferred maintenance (already high) will increase. With so much revenue tied to reimbursement and a reimbursement outlook that is negative, it is unlikely that capital will flood back to the post-acute industry. Critically important to the viability of this sector is an improving economy combined with regulatory reform that, if reimbursement remains flat, allows providers to become truly more efficient. In short, increased program revenues under Medicare and Medicaid due to economic growth, will ease a lot of the immediate crunch and perhaps, buy sufficient time for absolutely critical, health policy reform.
CMS Announces Medicare SNF Cuts: The Implication
On Friday, CMS released its Final Rule regarding FY 2012 SNF PPS reimbursement. The Final Rule implements a reduction or “cut” in SNF PPS payments equal to 11.1% or $3.87 billion. The 11.1% reduction is based on 2011 rates and spending/outlays. In their proposed final rule published in May, CMS alluded to the real possibility that it would seek to reduce SNF payments via some element of program/technical correction as well as rate reductions. Their reasoning stemmed from claim and resulting outlay experience that was significantly greater in dollar amounts than originally forecasted when MDS 3.0 and RUGs IV was devised and implemented. Summarized, CMS had intended the conversion from RUGs III to RUGs IV to be expenditure neutral for Medicare. Per recent figures and analysis from the OIG, expenditures under RUGs IV are running 16% higher than the “neutral” target. For more information, see my recent post on this same topic at http://wp.me/ptUlY-8Q .
Given that the text of the Final Rule won’t be published until August 8 and as of Friday, CMS was still working on recalibrating the CMIs under RUGs IV, it isn’t possible to provide direct analysis of the actual rate scenario for FY 2012. What I do know however, is that the “bark” in this case is definitely worse than the “bite”. While overall spending is set for reduction, this doesn’t necessarily correlate directly to rate. Briefly, here’s why:
- CMS has factored into their projections of lower spending levels, a series of technical corrections such as changes in how minutes are allocated among participants in group therapy. This change closes a loophole or as I have said, an area of oversight in the transition from III to IV. Going forward, group therapy minutes must be divided in equal increments among all participants (e.g., one hour of therapy provided to a group of four equals four 15 minute therapy sessions; not an hour allocated to each participant as the system presently allows). Additionally, CMS is tightening the Change of Therapy assessment requirements to more specifically, capture any changes in a patient’s therapy needs that would preclude re-classification to a different (presumably lower) RUG category. This change is separate from any Change of Condition assessment.
- Recalibration of RUGs categories via adjustment to the CMIs will occur based-off of 2011 utilization and projections. The net result is change in category payments that will remain higher than experienced under RUGs III levels. In short, the net “cut” will not be 11% across the board. SNFs need to be astute as to how the CMIs work and translate into payments under each RUG. Recalibration is designed to restore parity to the overall expenditure profile. In order for CMS to do this, it will overlay utilization trends and patterns across the CMI continuum and adjust rates within the scope of its technical corrections, to forecast an overall program expenditure target that agrees (theoretically) with its original intentions in converting to RUGs IV. In short, this doesn’t mean an 11% direct rate reduction. If CMS were to impose and 11% cut to each category, overall outlays would reduce by more than 30% – that is not the target.
- Based on what I see from most providers with a fairly balanced Medicare book of business (mix of clinical/nursing and rehab cases on par with 40% clinical, 60% therapy), the net to their per diem will be flat to a reduction of 2 to 5%. This means that a facility with an average per diem today of $450 per day will see a 2012 per diem between $425 and $450 per day. Providers that took advantage of the group therapy option to escalate or maintain their high rehab payments under IV will likely see a greater revenue shock. In virtually all cases, providers that have a fairly balanced Medicare book should see a 2012 Medicare per diem that falls 6% to 8% higher than their FY 2010 per diem.
I will have a better idea of the actual impact when I see the final CMIs and resulting RUGs IV rates. In the meantime and until the Final Rule and rates are implemented on 10/1 of this year, I don’t see much in the way of political intercession to change (positively) the rate and spending scenario. Spending at the Federal level is a toxic subject and even with a potential debt ceiling deal looming, the microscope will remain directly on all areas of federal spending. Entitlement spending (Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security) is rising substantially faster than discretionary or military spending and logically, presents a big target for deficit hawks. Logically, it will be difficult to gain the support of any Congressional industry sympathisers to push more money back into a system that most acknowledge, was unintentionally overpaying for care. Consider FY 2011 a bit of a windfall and the changes forthcoming, pretty darn modest; all things being equal.
OIG on Hospice: Restructure Hospice Payments for SNF Residents
This past week, the OIG released a report that represents a more definitive study of hospice payments and utilization trends under Medicare. The report is effectively a follow-up to recommendations made in MedPac’s annual report(s) to Congress. The report provides a review of OIG’s analysis of the growth of Medicare covered hospice patients over the period 2005 – 2009, specifically as such growth relates to the provision of Hospice services within SNFs. For the last three to four years, MedPac and to a lesser extent OIG, have commented about the rapid growth of hospice utilization under the Medicare benefit and the corollary relationship between this growth and SNFs, particularly as the same relates to for-profit hospice organizations. For more on MedPac’s report to Congress and their recommendations/analysis regarding Hospice, see my related post on this site at http://wp.me/ptUlY-8e .
Per OIG, Medicare spending for hospice services provided to SNF residents increased 69% between 2005 and 2009. In total dollars, the amount grew from $2.55 billion to $4.31 billion. During this period, the number of hospice beneficiaries residing in SNFs grew by 40%. Not surprising, during this same period the total number of hospices participating in Medicare also grew; the growth dominated by for-profit organizations. According to the OIG, hospices organized for-profit received higher levels of reimbursement on average (29%) compared to non-profit and governmental operated hospices.
Specifically related to hospice services provided to SNF residents, 8% or 263 hospices had two-thirds of their cases comprised of SNF residents. Of this group of 263, 72% were or are, for-profit. In total, 56% of all hospices participating in Medicare are for-profit. Comparing reimbursement or payments and utilization, the group that incurred two-thirds of their cases via SNFs was paid more per beneficiary ($3,182) and the average length-of-stay in “benefit” was three weeks longer than the median average length of stay across the industry.
| Table 1: Medicare Hospice Care from 2005 to 2009: Growth in Spending and in Number of Beneficiaries | |||||
| 2005 | 2009 | Percentage Increase | |||
| Spending on hospice care in nursing facilities | $2.55 billion | $4.31 billion | 69% | ||
| Spending on hospice care in all settings | $7.92 billion | $12.08 billion | 53% | ||
| Number of hospice beneficiaries in nursing facilities | 240,000 | 337,000 | 40% | ||
| Number of hospice beneficiaries in all settings | 871,000 | 1,085,000 | 25% | ||
| Source: OIG analysis of CMS data, 2010; and OIG,Medicare Hospice Care: A Comparison of Beneficiaries in Nursing Facilities and Beneficiaries in Other Settings, OEI-02-06-00220, December 2007. | |||||
As I have written before, the dominant profile of SNF residents enrolled in hospice includes Medicaid as the primary payer source, a primary diagnosis for SNF residency of Alzheimer’s disease or some other form of dementia or mental disorder, and the SNF in which they (the residents) reside has a payer mix that is at least 42% Medicaid. Additionally, the SNF resident has resided in the facility for a period of time (months) prior to enrollment within the hospice benefit. None of this information is new or should I say “news”. The SNF industry has quickly learned that transferring a certain liability for the cost of care of a Medicaid resident (drugs, certain supplies, some staffing) to a hospice that receives a routine hospice benefit under Medicare is financially advantageous, particularly since Medicaid continues to pay for the room and board costs of the SNF. In fact, the vast majority of state plans do not coordinate benefits with the Medicare Hospice benefit, leaving the facility to collect the full Medicaid rate for the resident’s stay while transferring an increment of care costs to the Hospice. Clearly, this niche is advantageous financially for the Hospice and the SNF. The Hospice, given the infrastructure of caregivers and other on-site SNF staff, can minimize its visits (substantially less in number than provided to a typical home-bound patient), effectively increasing its marginal profitability. The SNF transfers certain costs to the Hospice, now paid as part of the Hospice benefit while still receiving the total amount of the Medicaid payment. While I won’t say this makes Medicaid a profitable payer, it certainly increases the marginal revenue contribution from a group of now, hospice covered residents. As the OIG and MedPac have observed, the SNF resident hospice patient tends to be a patient with a terminal condition but arguably, one that is not necessarily imminent and/or in some cases, even clinically supported. The end or net result is a patient profile that stays longer (covered) under the Hospice benefit.
Concluding within their report, the OIG makes two recommendations that on their face, don’t vary much from recommendations made by MedPac. Their first recommendation is to monitor the activities of hospices with a high percentage of cases occurring in SNFs. Their second recommendation is for CMS to alter or lessen, the level of reimbursement paid to a hospice for care provided to an SNF resident. The report contains no recommendation of “how much” less. MedPac in comparison has recommended that the Hospice benefit be scaled for SNF residents – higher on admission, less in the middle term of the stay, and higher again close or precedent to death. For MedPac, this method more closely reflects the resources used or costs incurred by a hospice during a patient’s length of stay.
As I have indicated, this information is not new nor are the concluding recommendations. The Medicare Hospice benefit is dated and not reflective of how terminal care occurs and/or should occur. The system is ripe for fraud as CMS has not taken its time to scrutinize claims or the validity thereof, particularly for diagnoses that traditionally do not correlate to quick or timely death. All too many for-profit, non-hospital aligned hospices have realized that sans the SNF resident market, the actual hospice market is fairly limited and not sufficiently deep to support the current number of agencies. In other words, a hospice organized for-profit would likely have a difficult time sustaining its margins and building a sufficient base of business without SNF contracts. Given this reality, and the reality that SNFs with large Medicaid payer percentages and long-term stays among its residents also benefit via a favorable hospice relationship, the market reality becomes the same as concluded by the OIG. Changing this paradigm won’t occur until three core elements of reform pertaining to the Medicare Hospice benefit occur. First, refined clarity of diagnosis appropriateness and stronger requirements on re-certification for additional benefit periods. There exists sufficient clinical information to create clarity, even for end-stage Alzheimer’s/Dementia diagnoses. Second, payment changes that take into account coordinated or bundled payments for Medicaid SNF and private-pay residents. Neither the SNF or the Hospice should benefit disproportionately when a patient is on hospice. Third, requirements of disclosure for all hospice/SNF relationships and contracts and requirements that no one hospice may provide exclusive services to an SNF. Too many of the most egregious situations I have encountered occur when one hospice has entered into multiple SNF contracts, dominating the market and creating blatant ”sweetheart” relationships. Additionally, CMS must take proactive measures to perform timely claim reviews of SNF residents receiving hospice services – for all diagnoses – particularly involving disproportionate case-mix hospice providers (hospices with large number of SNF residents enrolled with certain qualifying diagnoses such as dementia, failure to thrive, and Alzheimer’s).
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