In this episode, AGG Healthcare attorneys Bill Dombi and Jason Bring discuss recent OIG guidance on hospice and skilled nursing facility relationships, focusing on anti-kickback risks and fraud concerns. They cover key issues...more
In this episode, AGG Healthcare attorneys Bill Dombi and Jason Bring discuss the role of managed care, artificial intelligence, and prior authorizations in home health and hospice. Bill and Jason examine a recent lawsuit...more
In this episode, AGG Healthcare attorneys Bill Dombi and Jason Bring discuss the hospice special focus program and CMS’ announcement that it will cease implementing the program in the face of litigation filed by providers and...more
A group of four state associations and a hospice provider have filed a federal lawsuit in Texas challenging the Special Focus Program (“SFP”) Final Rule and the resulting list of hospices identified as poor performers. The...more
In this episode, AGG Post-Acute & Long-Term Care co-chair Jason Bring is joined by AGG Healthcare partner Alex Foster to discuss a recent OIG report highlighting Provider Relief Fund compliance issues within the hospice...more
In this episode, AGG Post-Acute & Long-Term Care co-chair Jason Bring is joined by Kathy Barton and Natalie McNeal of Northeast Georgia Health System. Kathy and Natalie share insights on navigating the complexities of hospice...more
In this episode, AGG Post-Acute & Long-Term Care co-chair Jason Bring is joined by AGG Healthcare attorney Charmaine Mech to discuss the latest developments in the palliative care industry across the country. Jason and...more
In this episode, AGG Post-Acute & Long-Term Care co-chair Jason Bring is joined by Megan Turby and Lisa Barker, MD, of Gulfside Healthcare Services in Land O' Lakes, Florida. AGG represented Gulfside in a series of hospice...more
In this episode, Jason Bring, AGG Healthcare partner and co-chair of the Post-Acute & Long-Term Care team, and Lanchi Nguyen Bombalier, AGG Healthcare partner and member of the Post-Acute & Long-Term Care, Hospitals & Health...more
AGG’s Home Health & Hospice team publishes a quarterly newsletter covering legal and regulatory topics specific to the home and community-based healthcare industry. The fields of end-of-life and home healthcare present...more
Over the last three decades, the OIG has developed a series of voluntary compliance program guidance documents (“CPGs”) directed at various segments of the healthcare industry, such as hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices....more
AGG’s Home Health & Hospice team publishes a quarterly newsletter covering legal and regulatory topics specific to the home and community-based healthcare industry. The fields of end-of-life and home healthcare present...more
In this episode, Jason Bring, AGG Healthcare partner and co-chair of the Post-Acute & Long-Term Care industry team; Matt Brohm, AGG Healthcare partner and co-chair of the Healthcare Private Equity team; and Alex Foster, AGG...more
The US Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) issued a report on December 12, 2022, recommending that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) expand hospice fraud and abuse reporting requirements to make them...more
For too long, many have talked about the need for community-based palliative care programs as both a precursor to hospice care and even as a stand-alone service. Sure, some have given it a go, but for many others, without...more
After attending the recent annual conference of the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (“NAHC”) in St. Louis, Missouri, and speaking with numerous clients, consultants, and vendors, AGG Healthcare partner, co-chair...more
After more than two years since the initial Provider Relief Fund (“Fund”) disbursement, hospices are beginning to see audits of their Fund expenditures by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (“HHS”) Office of the...more
In the wake of the government-wide sequestration cuts in 2011, the hospice industry was not spared. Medicare hospice payments were reduced by two percent in accordance with a sequestration order issued March 1, 2013, pursuant...more
An August 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General recommended that the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) revamp its use of the hospital wage index to...more
More than one year after two major hospice reports raised concerns ranging from billing to patient safety, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) continues its review of the...more
CMS has announced a series of temporary regulatory waivers and new rules to provide hospice providers with flexibility to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. The goals of these actions are to expand the healthcare system...more
On March 30, 2020, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an Interim Final Rule (IFC) introducing temporary regulatory waivers and new rules to promote flexibility in the American health care system...more
Misuse of controlled substances continues to be a serious public health problem in the United States. The most commonly misused controlled substances include opioids (such as oxycodone), which are used to treat pain, and...more
CMS Announces Hospice Capitation Rates for Medicare Advantage -
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the capitation rates for hospice care through the value-based insurance design...more
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the capitation rates for hospice care through the value-based insurance design model (VBID), often referred to as the Medicare Advantage hospice...more