Home-Based Care Can Help Turn Around CMS’ Investment Portfolio, Former Administrator Says

Former U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma is bullish on a lot. Speaking at the Home Care 100 conference Tuesday, she expressed enthusiasm for a new era of data-tracking and technology, as well as value-based care, Medicare Advantage and hospital at home. Most noteworthy to the attendees, however, was her […]

Supreme Court Seems Skeptical on OSHA Rule, More Receptive to CMS Mandate

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday listened to arguments regarding the issue that has been top of mind for most home-based care providers for the past several months: vaccine mandates. No decision has been made on whether the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) rule, nor the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) mandate, […]

OSHA Mandate Reinstated, Noncompliance Penalties to Begin in January

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulation requiring workers at companies with 100 or more employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing has been revived. The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a stay on the OSHA vaccine mandate late Friday. The mandate had been paused since Nov. 6, challenged […]

Supreme Court Keeps NY Vaccine Mandate Alive. Here’s What Home Health Providers Should Know.

On Monday, the Supreme Court refused to block New York state’s requirement that health care workers must be vaccinated against COVID-19. For home-based care providers, the move is unlikely to change much for now – either in New York or elsewhere. A similar challenge in the state of Maine had previously reached the Supreme Court, […]

‘It’s Now for the Wealthy’: Regulation Creating Cost Barriers for Live-In Home Care Services

In 2013, the Obama administration included live-in caregivers in U.S. wage and overtime law. Previously, those caregivers – along with salaried workers – had been exempt from overtime provisions. The administration’s goal at the time was to raise caregiver wages. That has certainly happened, albeit in a small number of cases. Mostly, though, the Obama-era […]

‘Hope for the Best, Plan for the Worst’: How Providers Should Plan Around the CMS Mandate Freeze

The initial health care worker vaccine mandate laid out by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was a cause for confusion for some home health providers when it was announced officially in early November. Now that a nationwide injunction has been issued by a federal judge with key deadlines rapidly approaching, that confusion […]