Top 3 CoP Changes to Impact Home Health Agencies

The newly finalized home health conditions of participation (CoPs) will have wide implications for agencies, but not all the changes are new or likely to be costly. The CoPs, which were updated after nearly three decades in a final rule issued in early January, aim to improve the quality of health care services for home health patients and […]

Home Health Groups Decry MedPAC Proposed Cuts As Too High

No cuts based on bogus calculations. That’s the message coming from some home health care industry groups after members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) voted to increase cuts to home health reimbursements. The commission, which is charged with recommending payment rates to Congress for the Prospective Payment System (PPS), voted on a 5% […]

HHS Nominee Says Home-Based Care Should Be Incentivized

As government leadership continues to transition amid ongoing confirmation hearings in Congress, the new head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), who is likely to be confirmed by the Senate soon, provided some reassurance during a Senate hearing of the value of home-based services. Rep. Tom Price (R-GA), who has been nominated […]

Making Sense of New CURES Act Regulations for Home Health

Before the end of his second term as President of the United States, Barack Obama signed the 21st Century CURES Act into law, bringing forth a wealth of new regulations that will impact the home health industry. While the law made headlines for its wide support on Capitol Hill and focus on tackling the most […]

Home Health Sector Faces Short Deadline for Sweeping New Rule

The home health industry is about to be inundated with new regulations after a long-expected update of the Conditions of Participation (CoP) was released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Monday. With the introduction of the final rule that defines what is needed to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, home […]

HHS Appeal to Slow Backlog Mandate Doesn’t ‘Tilt the Scales’

Despite its resistance, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must comply with a previously announced timetable for clearing a massive Medicare appeals backlog after all, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia has decided. The Medicare appeals backlog grew exponentially in recent years due, in part, to more aggressive Medicare […]

Ready or Not: Home Health Industry Braces for Pre-Claim Expansion

In what has been described as a cruel April Fool’s Day joke, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it will be expanding the Pre-claim Review Demonstration (PCRD) to Florida beginning April 1, 2017. As the controversial program charges ahead to the Sunshine State, providers and industry advocates have prepared, but are still hoping […]

[Update] CMS Sets Pre-Claim Start Date for Florida

The controversial Pre-Claim Review Demonstration (PCRD) will expand into its second state, Florida, on April 1, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced. The move comes several months after further implementation of the demonstration was put on hold. Currently, the program, which requires home health care agencies to submit requests for reimbursement […]

Editor’s Picks: Regulations, Rules and Rising Rates

As 2016 starts winding down and the health care industry braces for changes likely to come with the incoming Trump administration, a few last-ditch laws are coming down the pike. We were sure to let our readers know which regulations could impact the home health and hospice industry, for better or for worse. We also […]

Judge: Medicare Appeals Backlog Must Be Cleared by 2021

In a victory to health care providers waiting on lengthy appeals decisions, a federal judge ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to eliminate its backlog of Medicare appeals claims in the next few years. The order comes after a damning report revealed a shockingly large backlog of Medicare claims appeals cases, with […]