Two Houston, Texas-area home health agency owners, among others, were sentenced last week for their roles in a $3 million Medicare fraud scheme. Owners of Jackson Home Healthcare, Inc., Valnita Turner, 48, and Valdie Jackson, 43, along with hospital employee Jarvis Thomas and Dr. Nick Patzakis, a physician, were among those sentenced Friday by a […]
Category: CMS
A bi-partisan bill introduced this week by two members of the U.S. House of Representatives aims to correct what some believe to be a crucial flaw in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment (DME). H.R. 4920, the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Improvement Act of 2014, would make […]
An office worker with a Miami home health care company pleaded guilty Wednesday to her involvement in a $7 million fraud scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Lizette Garcia, 37, of Miami, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard in the Southern District of Florida to one count of payment of […]
More than 240 hospice advocates have converged on Capitol Hill Tuesday, in efforts to call on Congress to temporarily halt implementation of CMS actions they say are leaving hospice patients without medications they need at the end of life. The campaign is spearheaded by the Hospice Action Network (HAN) and the National Hospice and Palliative […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today told the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) that it is reversing its previous position on the face-to-face requirement for Medicare Advantage (MA) plan members who receive home health care services. In a memorandum issued by CMS on Wednesday, the agency clarified that a […]
Health plans are cashing in on home visits, taking advantage of Medicare profits when the house calls unearth patients’ medical problems, according to a report by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit investigative news organization in Washington, D.C. Some senior citizens are finding that their Medicare Advantage health plans were eager to send a […]
After months of planning, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) has finally filed its lawsuit last week against the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) over allegations regarding the federal agency’s rule for face-to-face physician encounters. The NAHC Board of Directors approved the lawsuit before its June 5 filing, citing the […]
The American Association for Homecare is moving forward with its campaign to track the impact of Medicare audits on providers of home medical equipment (HME) through its Audit Key initiative. The HME Audit Key was born out of the need to develop a system that shows lawmakers in Washington the affects audits have on HME […]
Recently published findings from an audit of Medicaid and Medicare hospice providers found that 90% of those randomly sampled did not meet state hospice licensure requirements related to hospice workers. The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General conducted an audit to determine whether the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) reliance […]
A bipartisan letter from 36 U.S. Senators is calling for the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to hold off on expanding the agency’s competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment. Led by Sens. John Thune (R-SD), Robert Casey (D-PA) and John Hoeven (R-ND), the letter urges CMS to halt the expansion of the […]
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