(a) For episodes beginning on or before December 31, 2019, an HHA receives an outlier payment for an episode whose estimated costs exceeds a threshold amount for each case-mix group. The outlier threshold for each case-mix group is the episode payment amount for that group, or the PEP adjustment amount for the episode, plus a fixed dollar loss amount that is the same for all case-mix groups.

(b) For periods beginning on or after January 1, 2020, an HHA receives an outlier payment for a 30-day period whose estimated cost exceeds a threshold amount for each case-mix group. The outlier threshold for each case-mix group is the 30-day payment amount for that group, or the partial payment adjustment amount for the 30-day period, plus a fixed dollar loss amount that is the same for all case-mix groups.

(c) The outlier payment is a proportion of the amount of imputed cost beyond the threshold.

(d) CMS imputes the cost for each claim by multiplying the national per-15 minute unit amount of each discipline by the number of 15 minute units in the discipline and computing the total imputed cost for all disciplines.