The following information appeared on, oig.hhs.gov
“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has long taken the position that services provided to a hospice beneficiary that are unrelated to the beneficiary’s terminal illness and related conditions should be exceptional, unusual, and rare given the comprehensive nature of the services covered under the Medicare hospice benefit. In addition, CMS conducted analyses that indicated an upward trend in payments for items and services provided to Medicare beneficiaries outside the Medicare hospice benefit during a hospice period of care (which we refer to as “nonhospice payments”). Based on the analyses, CMS acknowledges that there may be items and services separately billed to other parts of Medicare (such as Medicare Part B) that are already paid for as part of the daily-rate payment that Medicare makes to hospices.”
