The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) plans to extend the home health moratorium, the agency announced in a rule to the Federal Register.
The move comes despite recent criticism that the moratorium, which places a temporary ban on new home health care agencies from providing Medicare-certified home health care, is not working. The moratorium has been in effect since 2013, impacting home health Medicare enrollment in Florida, Illinois, Michigan, Texas, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
The moratorium is meant to be a temporary enforcement to combat fraud, waste and abuse in states with high rates of improper payments. Home health care agencies can apply for waivers to enroll in the state.
Industry groups have criticized the broad stroke that the action takes toward fraud.
“While the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) supports a moratorium in areas where Medicare fraud and abuse by HHAs is occurring, NAHC does not support CMS’ approach of applying the moratorium to the entire state,” the association stated in a post on its site.
See the full announcement here.
Written by Amy Baxter
