The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended a COVID-19 pandemic-era waiver that will allow home- and community-based service (HCBS) providers to take advantage of flexibilities in their state programs. The Appendix K waiver allowed HCBS providers more wiggle room during emergencies, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. CMS introduced the waiver to […]
CMS
The past few years have been a time of transformation for the hospital-at-home model. As it cements its popularity, new players have begun to rise with it. While hospital at home has long been embraced across the globe — in Australia, Canada and across Europe, for example — the model popped up in the U.S. […]
The No. 1 thing home health providers should be focused on ahead of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) final payment rule is finding any additional opportunities to increase revenue, experts believe. It may seem like a no-brainer, but if the reimbursement cuts come as proposed by CMS, providers need to be […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will immediately stop enforcing the COVID-19 vaccine mandates for home health workers and other health care staff. In light of the public health emergency (PHE) ending on May 11, the Biden administration announced in early May that it planned to end vaccination requirements for federal workers […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recent proposed rule for Medicaid may cap business for certain providers, but industry experts believe the government agency is likely foreshadowing its intentions for the final rule. The new rule would force 80% of payment to go to workers in home- and community-based services (HCBS). There […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Thursday announced a new proposed rule that would, among its provisions, establish a strict requirement for the amount of Medicaid payment going toward home care worker compensation. Specifically, the proposed rule from CMS would require that at least 80% of Medicaid payments for personal care, […]
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is making ownership data for all Medicare-certified home health and hospice agencies publicly available. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the news early Thursday. Anyone can now review “detailed information on the ownership of more than 6,000 hospices and 11,000 home health agencies,” […]
A new report from the National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services could be the first step in further expanding the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE) model nationwide. Specifically, the committee believes that expanding PACE to more rural parts of the U.S. will help close gaps in long-term care. “[We] […]
Home-based care is arguably getting more attention from the U.S. president now than it ever has before. So much so, in fact, that home health providers and advocates may start looking at President Biden himself as an ally in their fight against payment rate cuts from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Biden’s […]
Following the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) implementation of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM), the total number of home health visits per 30-day period fell by nearly 17%. That’s according to CMS data. Some health care organizations, like AARP, are concerned that this trend may be the result of unintended consequences tied […]