The White House teased the finalized Medicaid Access Rule early Monday, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) later revealed more intricate details attached to the rule. Firstly, the timeline of the rule is now clear. Specifically: – In three years, states must “report on their readiness to collect data regarding the percentage […]
Category: Regulation
The “Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services” rule has been finalized. Most importantly, the bemoaned “80-20” provision has gone through as proposed, meaning providers will eventually be forced to direct 80% of reimbursement for home- and community-based services (HCBS) to caregiver wages. First proposed by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in April […]
In past years, Medicare-certified home health agencies and Medicaid personal care services providers have been big focus areas for government watchdogs. While there’s still plenty of oversight, the spotlight on home health and personal care providers appears to have dimmed somewhat. Instead of focusing on home health and personal care, watchdogs are increasingly targeting hospices, […]
President Joe Biden made remarks on the care economy – including home care – in a speech Tuesday at Union Station in Washington, D.C. “You know, take home care,” he said. “The cost of long-term care for aging loved ones and people with disabilities rose 40% in the last decade. Medicaid offers help, but it […]
The erosion of non-solicitation agreements poses a significant challenge for home care providers, potentially undercutting their business models and profitability. Non-solicitation agreements keep home care clients from poaching caregivers trained and supplied by agencies. In certain states with stricter rules against non-competes — like California and Connecticut — the lines between non-solicitation and non-compete agreements […]
In a State of the Union address that evoked Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln and Vladimir Putin within the first minute, President Joe Biden also made room for home-based care. After urging for higher taxes on the uber-wealthy, Biden challenged Americans to imagine a future with better access to home care. “Imagine the future of […]
Since the news surfaced Tuesday that the Department of Justice had opened an antitrust investigation into UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH), additional questions have bubbled up. Namely, those questions surround the home health provider Amedisys Inc. (Nasdaq: AMED), which agreed to be acquired by UnitedHealth Group’s Optum in June of last year. Will that deal be […]
The Department of Justice is targeting UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) in an antitrust investigation, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. Specifically, the Justice Department is interviewing subjects around interactions between UnitedHealth Group and its health care provider services arm, Optum. UnitedHealthcare is one of the largest insurers in the country. Meanwhile, Optum is one of […]
Amid much chatter regarding the classification of workers in home-based care, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has clawed more than $1 million in wages from two agencies. Specifically, the DOL recovered more than $1 million in minimum and overtime wages owed to 859 home health workers employed by two Texas-based providers: Alegre Home Health […]
At some point in their lives, most Americans will need some type of in-home care support. The issue is that — due to the caregiver shortage, the rising cost of care, Medicaid qualifications and a number of other factors — many of them won’t be able to afford it. As a way around the more […]