California Governor Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill Wednesday that will provide paid sick leave to millions of workers in the state, however, in-home health care providers and several others won’t be able to benefit from the new law. The Healthy Workplaces, Healthy Families Act of 2014 (AB 1522), which is slated to take effect […]
Category: Regulation
Of the various provisions outlined in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2015 proposed rule for the home health prospective payment system, just one section regarding new audit procedures for home health agencies has garnered opposition from a national hospital trade group. Specifically, the American Hospital Association (AHA) strongly opposes CMS’s proposal to […]
Each day, thousands of home-based caregivers are put into life-and-death situations with little training and virtually no direct supervision, mainly because state payments are too low to cover additional training and oversight expenses, reports the Star Tribune. The Minneapolis-based newspaper interviewed more than two dozen personal care attendants and found that only one had received […]
While President Obama set a goal for all Americans to have a digital health record by this year, cost and other factors indicate significant challenges ahead for the nationwide transition to electronic health records (EHRs) for health care operators, writes the Washington Post in its Health Reform Watch series. EHRs are believed to be safer and […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued four change requests that provide guidance on home health policy and claims processing issues, seeking to improve compliance and prevent program vulnerability. The first, Change Request 8699, prevents duplicate payments when overlapping inpatient and home health claims are out of sequence. The request improves safeguards […]
The controversial face-to-face encounter requirements have been the subject of concern for many home health care organizations, whose staff and physicians must complete hours of “burdensome” paperwork to comply with the new regulations, industry professionals say. But with a surge in the use of electronic health records, a product has emerged that is helping physicians […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has scaled back its restrictions requiring all hospice drugs to be approved before they can be dispensed. Now, prior authorization will only be necessary for four categories of prescription drugs: analgesics, anti-nauseants, laxatives and anti-anxiety medications, according to a recent CMS memorandum. “We recognize that the operational […]
Last week, CMS announced plans to re-compete the supplier contracts awarded in Round 2 of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program. By law, CMS is required to re-compete contracts under the DMEPOS bidding program at least once every three years. Under the program, DMEPOS providers bid against each […]
A new piece of proposed legislation that would reform the Medicare competitive bidding program to make it more equitable is being met with positive reception among government officials and industry leaders. The Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Improvement Act, H.R. 4920, if passed, would make bids from suppliers to provide durable medical equipment, prosthetic and orthotic devices and […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a rule that would cut Medicare reimbursements for durable medical equipment (DME), prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) by more than $7 billion from 2016 to 2020. The proposed rule would create significant changes to Medicare coverage and payment policies for DMEPOS, including a methodology for adjusting […]
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