Insurance News and Headlines

Empassion CEO: Palliative Care Significantly Impacts Payer Star Ratings

Empassion Health’s CEO Robin Hefferman says palliative‑care visits are excluded from CMS star‑rating calculations, a practice that can lift Medicare Advantage plans’ scores and protect hundreds of millions of dollars in payments. He explains that while exclusion improves ratings, effective management of these patients still matters because it influences baseline performance. Empassion recently launched the Empassion Assured certification, a third‑party badge that validates hospice providers against quality benchmarks. The program aims to help payers build preferred hospice networks, curb fraud, and eventually integrate palliative metrics into star ratings.