The U.S. Senate on Thursday narrowly confirmed California Attorney General Xavier Becerra as the next secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It did so by a 50-49 margin, with the vote playing out almost entirely along party lines. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the only Republican who voted to confirm […]
Category: Regulation
Despite the once-in-a-generation COVID-19 pandemic, the home health industry’s transition to the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) was pretty seamless. Looking into the not-too-distant future, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will now likely attempt to make modest tweaks to a handful of key areas, payment experts believe. The agency will do so […]
President Joe Biden focused on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic during his first full day in office Thursday. In doing so, he once again drew attention to home-based care and getting the current “workforce crisis” under control. “Our national strategy is comprehensive,” Biden said during an address from the White House. “It’s based on science, not […]
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) recently issued an opinion letter allowing home care agencies to implement consistent shift rates that include pre-payment of overtime for caregivers who provide live-in services. In this case, a “live-in shift” is defined as being on the job for 24 hours or more at a time. Broadly, the DOL’s […]
Wage-and-hour litigation, confusing state-level regulations and an increase in federal audits were among the biggest legal trends of 2020. While many of these issues will remain in the year ahead, 2021 will also bring several more legal hurdles for home-based care providers. The decision of whether to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for home health and home […]
In late November, the aging-focused advocacy organization LeadingAge wrote a note to Congress, calling for relief on behalf of the 5,500 adult day service providers across the country and the vulnerable patients they serve. “Adult day services providers across the country urgently need dedicated federal funding to ensure they are able to continue providing services […]
President-elect Joe Biden has picked Xavier Becerra, the current attorney general of California, to lead the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to several news reports. Prior to serving as California’s top prosecutor, Becerra represented the Los Angeles area in Congress for 12 years. HHS is currently headed by Secretary Alex Azar. […]
Over the past several years, it seems as though the home health industry has been inching closer and closer toward the elimination of Medicare’s strict physician-certification policy. Now — thanks to the CARES Act — nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs) and clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) are able to certify eligibility for home health. While […]
In an effort to boost value-based care, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it has finalized changes to the Physician Self-Referral Law — often referred to as the Stark Law. For home health providers, the changes could mean more opportunities for value-based care arrangements moving forward, experts believe. Broadly, […]
In an effort to increase hospital capacity amid the current COVID-19 surge, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Wednesday announced “unprecedented” flexibilities around providing hospital-level care for patients in their homes. Similar to CMS’s recent allowances surrounding telehealth, the agency’s latest efforts are focused on lifting barriers that could potentially hinder […]