Hospice Benefit Policy Manual Updates Related to the Addition of Marriage and Family Therapists or Mental Health Counselors to the Hospice Interdisciplinary Team

Published 03/20/2024

Change Request 13437 (PDF) purpose is to manualize changes to the hospice interdisciplinary group (IDG) to include Marriage and Family Therapists (MFTs) or Mental Health Counselors (MHCs). In the CY 2024 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, CMS finalized modifications to the hospice conditions of participation to permit MFTs or MHCs to serve as members of the hospice IDG (§§ 418.56 and 418.114).

On November 29, 2023, CMS hosted a Hospice Open Door Forum call. On that call, several questions were asked regarding the new requirements for MFTs and MHCs that became effective January 1, 2024. Due to the number of questions, CMS developed and posted the below Questions and Answers Document. Please share this with your staff.


Was this article helpful?