Home Health & Hospice

CMS has Ended its Moratorium on New Home Health Agencies in Texas, Illinois, Michigan and Florida. Unfortunately, the Lifting of the Moratorium Isn’t Necessarily a Good Thing for Existing Home Health Agencies.

Home Health & Hospice /

(February 19, 2019): CMS has now ended, at least for the current time, the moratorium that it placed on the approval of new home health agencies. At the same time, home health providers that operate in Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and Texas, and potentially other states within the Palmetto/JM jurisdiction (Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, […]

CMS has Ended its Moratorium on New Home Health Agencies in Texas, Illinois, Michigan and Florida. Unfortunately, the Lifting of the Moratorium Isn’t Necessarily a Good Thing for Existing Home Health Agencies. Read More »

Texas Prosecutors are Aggressively Targeting Criminal Home Health Fraud

Home Health & Hospice /

(January 9, 2019): Despite real progress being made with respect to regulatory compliance, home health agencies, their owners, and affiliated health care professionals (such as referring / supervising physicians, therapists and staff) remain under strict government scrutiny. The government’s efforts to investigate and prosecute home health fraud cases have been especially evident in Texas. In

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Home Health Providers Under the Microscope — The Review Choice Demonstration Project is Here

Home Health & Hospice /

(October 4, 2018): Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), confirmed that it intends to initiate the Review Choice Demonstration for Home Health Services project on December 10, 2018.  The Review Choice Demonstration project is slated to initially begin in Illinois. This initiative is the renamed, repackaged version of the prior Pre-Claim

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Personal Care Services Are Under the Government’s Microscope

Home Health & Hospice /

(January 22, 2018): The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) has conducted numerous audits, evaluations, and investigations involving the provision of “personal care services” to Medicaid beneficiaries.  In fact, from 2006 to 2012, HHS-OIG produced more than 20 audit and evaluation reports analyzing various program integrity risks presented when providing

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Medicare Home Services (CPT® codes 99341-99350) are Being Audited

Home Health & Hospice /

(June 20, 2017): As the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG), signaled in both its 2016 and 2017 Work Plans, the government is concerned about the rapid growth they are seeing in the number of physician home services billed to the Medicare program. In order to qualify for coverage

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Home Health Final Rule Creates New Exclusion Screening Obligation

Home Health & Hospice /

(March 29, 2017): The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently published a new Final Rule that makes changes to the Conditions of Participation for home health agencies. Under the Final Rule, providers are required to ensure that individuals and entities providing services under arrangement are not excluded, terminated, or debarred from any

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Home Health Pre-Claim Review Demonstration Project Update!

Home Health & Hospice /

(September 20, 2016): On August 3, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented its “Pre-Claim Review Demonstration” project in Illinois. This demonstration project effectively requires that Illinois home health agencies submit home health claims for review by the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) or face possible penalties (and be forced to have the

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