Home health providers that received more than $10,000 from the COVID-19-inspired Provider Relief Fund will need to account for all of the grant funds they spent by Feb. 15 at the latest, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced earlier this week. When the Provider Relief Fund was established, health care providers […]
Parker Poe
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) announced Tuesday that the Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) would be renewed for participating states beginning in August. The RCD was suspended in late March due to the COVID-19 crisis, but now CMS is planning on moving forward with the demonstration “regardless of the status of the […]
Home health providers have had to navigate through a slew of regulatory changes over the past three months. Some of those changes will end up permanent, while others are bound to go away. Non-physician certification, telehealth technology and new infection control protocols are examples of long-lasting changes linked to the COVID-19 virus. Meanwhile, cash flow […]
For providers still looking to secure some of the Provider Relief Fund money mandated by the CARES Act, they have until Wednesday to accept the terms and conditions and submit revenue information to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In April, $30 billion was dispersed as an initial distribution of the general […]
To help stabilize cash flow, the federal government has given home health providers access to a bevy of financial tools. For starters, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began paying out a total of $30 billion in “no strings attached” money to Medicare providers on April 10, drawing from the CARES Act […]
If home health and hospice providers discover an unexpected Medicare payment from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) later this week, they shouldn’t be too alarmed — it’s not a billing error. The surprise deposit isn’t a mistake, but rather a no-strings-attached bump to help maintain operational stability amid coronavirus disruption. CMS Administrator […]
The Department of Labor (DOL) has clarified which health care providers are exempt from new federally mandated paid sick and parental leave rules that were introduced in response to COVID-19. While home health care providers are officially in the clear, many nonmedical home care providers remain uncertain — yet optimistic — about where they stand. […]
As the national concern over COVID-19 — the coronavirus — continues to grow, U.S. lawmakers have introduced legislation that would require all employers to provide paid sick leave to workers. If passed, the bills would likely place a bigger squeeze on the country’s home-based care providers, which often operate on razor-thin profit margins. On Friday, […]
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) may have to get creative if it wants to avoid the formation of home health deserts in 2020 and beyond. One possible solution: revisiting the current six-year overpayment lookback rule. As part of its efforts to curb fraud, waste and abuse, CMS finalized a rule in […]
Home-based care providers have no shortage of regulatory hurdles and legal changes to keep them on their toes. For most home health agencies, the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) and Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) are top of mind. Meanwhile, home care agencies have minimum wage hikes and electronic visit verification (EVV) to worry about. With so […]