A hospital can provide free home care to reduce readmissions, despite a federal ban on giving patients freebies that could influence their care decisions. That’s according to a recent advisory opinion from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG). OIG’s advisory opinion comes in response to a […]
Office of the Inspector General
Home health surveyors select patients for review using lists supplied by home health agencies (HHAs), but some of the lists are missing information, a new report indicates. Of the 28 HHA-supplied rosters reviewed by the Department of Health & Human Services’ (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG), nine were incomplete. Each of the incomplete rosters […]
This week, Home Health Care News readers read up on three main topics: reimbursement, coding and fraud. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force charged about 300 people—including some in the home health industry—in a variety of schemes that involved more than $900 million in fraudulent health care billings, and the Office of the Inspector General identified […]
Some veterans in Washington, D.C., waited more than a year to receive purchased home- and community-based services (HCBS), according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The OIG conducted an investigation at the prompting of Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), who brought attention to a complaint she […]
The owners of a Washington, D.C., home care agency have been found guilty of bilking the District of Columbia Medicaid program of more than $80 million. On Nov. 12, a jury found Florence Bikundi, 52, and her husband Michael Bikundi, 63, guilty of a slew of charges, including health care fraud, Medicaid fraud, money laundering […]
Leaders in the home health care industry are urging providers to voice their opposition to recently proposed surety bonds, which one association says could have “serious negative effects” for home health businesses. The National Association for Home Care & Hospice, a nonprofit advocacy group, is leading the charge by encouraging providers to contact their elected […]
Federal investigators announced Friday the take down of a massive health care fraud scheme that involved more than $60 million of improper billing to Medicare and Medicaid and the convictions of 39 defendants in Michigan. Propagated by ringleader Babubhai Patel, 51, of Canton, Mich., the scheme involved 26 pharmacies, nine doctors and several home health […]
Subscribe
Receive industry updates and breaking news from HHCN