Medicare and Medicaid programs; schedule of limits on home health agency costs per visit for cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1984--HCFA. Proposed rule.

This rule sets forth a proposed schedule of limits on home health agency (HHA) costs that may be reimbursed under the Medicare program and a proposed revision of the regulations governing the limits. The schedule is an update of the limits to take into account more recent data and the effects of inflation on HHA operating costs and would apply to HHA costs for entire cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 1984. The schedule would also explain the basic methodology for computing the cost limits, the change in terminology involving metropolitan statistical areas and a proposed change to the method of deriving the share of labor cost contained in the limits. The proposed revision to the regulations would clarify our policy concerning exceptions from the cost limits for newly established HHAs .