In a letter sent today, four members of Congress echoed LeadingAge’s concerns about the implementation of Special Focus Program (SFP) proposed by CMS. The lawmakers write that the SFP would not adequately identify poor performing hospices who are “truly struggling with performance” if implemented with the current algorithm.

The October 4, 2023 letter was sent by Reps. Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas), Earl Blumenauer (D-Oregon), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) and Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) to CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young. 

Hospice News coverage features LeadingAge’s Mollie Gurian, vice president of home-based and HCBS policy, on why this matters to members: “It’s critically important that they get this right. [CMS] is taking great steps on fraud and abuse, we want to make sure that they take that same time and attention to this quality improvement effort They’re going to publicly report out who’s selected for it, and if the algorithm is not right, we could be steering beneficiaries to poor performing hospices, which would be a really bad outcome and worse than waiting.”

The SFP, created as a result of the 2020 passage of the HOSPICE Act, was implemented specifically to identify poor hospice performers, not as a fraud prevention program. LeadingAge supported the HOSPICE Act and the need for the SFP.