Stakeholders: Hospice Rx Guide Is Good For Beneficiaries, Providers

Beneficiary advocates and hospice providers applaud CMS' overhaul of controversial drug prior-authorization guidelines for hospice beneficiaries, unveiled Friday (July 18), as a move that should help reduce access problems for terminally ill beneficiaries and providers. The agency decided to limit the scope of the prior-authorization policy after the guidelines faced strong pushback from stakeholders and lawmakers. The original policy, which went into effect in May, instructed Part D plans to put all hospice beneficiaries' drugs under prior authorization -- a...