WSR 16-07-015

[Filed March 7, 2016, 7:17 a.m.]

Title or Subject: Medicaid State Plan Amendment 16-0009.

Effective Date: Anticipated on or after May 1, 2016.

Description: The health care authority (the agency) intends to submit medicaid State Plan Amendment (SPA) 16-0009 to update the hospice services payment methodology. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are requiring states to differentiate payments for routine home care based on the beneficiary's length of stay, and to implement a service intensity add-on payment for services provided in the last seven days of a beneficiary's life, if certain criteria are met.

The effective date is anticipated to be May 1, 2016.

At this time the agency is unable to determine an effect on annual aggregate expenditures.

The SPA is in the development process, therefore a copy is not yet available for review. To contact the agency for additional information and a copy of the SPA when it becomes available, please contact Jean Bui, Section Manager, Rates Development, 626 8th Avenue S.E., Olympia, WA 98501, phone (360) 725-1973, TDD/TTY 1-800-848-5429, fax (253) 350-6512, e-mail jean.bui@hca.wa.gov, web site http://www.hca.wa.gov/medicaid/rbrvs/Pages/index.aspx.