Fraud Watch: Doctor’s Conviction Overturned

New Orleans Doctor’s Fraud Conviction Overturned A New Orleans-based doctor and owner of a home health care company will likely be released from federal prison after an appeals court overturned the original conviction. Dr. Pamela Ganji and Elaine Davis were convicted of health care fraud and conspiracy to commit health care fraud in 2017. Ganji […]

Must-Read News: Azar Confirmed as HHS Secretary, Big Year for EVV

Happy Monday, Home Health Care News readers. Gear up for your week with our must-read news, and keep reading to check out our top stories from last week. At the top of the news cycle was that the second secretary of the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was confirmed by the […]

RAISE Family Caregivers Act Passes Congress

The Recognize, Assist, Include, Support and Engage Family Caregivers Act, or the RAISE Family Caregivers Act, passed the Senate on Jan. 9 and is headed to President Donald Trump for his signature. The act is aimed at identifying recommended actions for health care providers, long-term services and supports (LTSS) providers, state and local governments and existing federal programs […]

HHS Nominee Open to Medicaid Block Grants

Alex Azar, President Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), again expressed some support for the idea of converting Medicaid to a block-grant program in a confirmation hearing Tuesday — though he cautioned that any solution is still far in the future and stated he was open to committing more […]

Legislation Aims to RAISE Support for Family Caregivers

Apart from home health aides, family caregivers are instrumental to delivering care to patients in the home setting—and now, a bill advocating for the crucial role they play is making its move in Washington. Titled the Recognize, Assist, Include, Support, and Engage Family Caregivers Act of 2017—better known as the RAISE Family Caregivers Act—the bill […]

Care Coordination Among ACOs Could Actually Increase Admissions

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are designed to save money by fostering cooperation: By working together, providers across the health care continuum can hopefully save Medicare money and boost quality. But the largest share of the savings may simply come from shifting patients out of skilled nursing and home health settings, a new study suggests—and not […]

Trump HHS Pick Says ‘Amen’ to Home Health Benefits

President Trump’s nominee to replace Tom Price as head of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) expressed an interest to overhauling the way Medicare and Medicaid cover end-of-life care. He also praised the role home care can play in efforts to lower health spending through Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). While testifying before the Senate […]

[Updated] CMS Finalizes Home Health Payment Rule Without HHGM

The home health groupings model (HHGM) has been defeated—for now. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final rule for the home health care prospective payment system (PPS) 2018 update without finalizing HHGM, which was proposed to be implemented in 2019. “We are not finalizing the implementation of the Home Health Groupings […]

The Hidden Rate Cut Inside HHGM

Most home health care stakeholders aren’t feeling the proposed home health groupings model (HHGM).  That’s mainly because providers, associations and others with interests in the industry are vehemently opposed to the payment cuts within the proposal, which aims to make several radical changes to the current home health payment model. Specifically, HHGM proposes to change […]

Income Level, Race Tied to Worse Home Health Outcomes

Medicare home health care beneficiaries are likely to have worse outcomes if they are poor, black or dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid, according to a findings published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. The study looked at the 30- and 60-day clinical outcomes for home health Medicare beneficiaries from 2012 to 2014. […]