Hospice Insights Podcast: What’s the Latest on UPICs? Highlights from Recent Audit Activity, Part I
AGG Talks: Home Health & Hospice Podcast - Episode 5: Understanding Palliative Care: Strategies for Compliance and Reimbursement
Hospice and Home Health Survey Perspectives: A Conversation with Kim Skehan, VP of Accreditation at CHAP
Episode 172: Matthew Roberts and Lauren DeMoss, Maynard Nexsen Health Care Attorneys
A Very “Special” Episode: Amid Controversy, CMS Launches the Hospice Special Focus Program
Grace from CMS: Unexpected Good News on HIS and CAHPS Appeals
This Bandwagon Has a Broken Wheel: OIG Joins the Inconsistent Approach to Hospice GIP Claims
Beyond Hospice: Home Health Agencies Plagued by UPICs and SMRCs
Beyond Hospice: The OIG Renews Its Scrutiny of Home Health Agencies
In spring 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the Medicaid access rule, which includes a provision that requires that 80% of Medicaid payments for most Medicaid-funded home health aide,...more
In May 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) proposed a series of rule changes intended to help promote the availability of home and community-based services (“HCBS”) for Medicaid beneficiaries. Chief...more
The US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized important changes to the Medicare enrollment regulations applicable to hospices and home health agencies (HHAs), including increasing the level of screening that...more
In recent years, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division has increased enforcement activities in the home healthcare industry. On Tuesday, DOL announced recovery of over $500,000 from an Alabama agency found to have...more
The EEOC has filed suit in federal court against a home care provider, alleging it unlawfully discriminated against employees when it changed their work assignments to accommodate client preferences. The suit alleges the...more
The U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”), through its Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”), has been intensifying its pursuit of Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) violations by residential care facilities, nursing facilities, home...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on April 27, 2023, that it will publicly release all ownership information of home health and hospice agencies. This move is aimed at increasing transparency and...more
The New York Office of the Attorney General (OAG) recently announced two agreements with White Glove Community Care, Inc. (White Glove). One agreement reached with OAG’s Labor Bureau involved unpaid wages to White Glove’s...more
Issues related to whether individuals are independent contractors or employees receive significant attention by employers and governmental entities because of the critical impact of misclassification. The U.S. Department of...more
On August 2, 2022, the New York State Department of Health (the “Department”) issued revised guidance regarding daily health screenings and related policies for home care staff. Specifically, the new guidance reduces the...more
In this episode, we continue our discussion of home health enforcement trends, focusing on other audits currently troubling agencies. These include audits from Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPIC), Supplemental...more
The Department of Justice recently announced that a home-health services company has agreed to pay over $45,000 to resolve alleged False Claims Act (“FCA”) violations. Professional Family Care Services, Inc. (“PFCS”), a North...more
On November 23, 2021, the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division announced an education, outreach and enforcement initiative to ensure employers pay professional caregivers minimum wage and overtime in accordance with...more
The Biden Administration’s recent “Path Out of the Pandemic” expands the COVID-19 vaccine mandate covering nursing home workers and will soon reach 17 million healthcare workers at Medicare and Medicaid-certified facilities....more
In response to an industry long in crisis before the pandemic, President Biden’s American Jobs Plan allocates substantial investment in the caregiving industry. The Plan aims to allocate $400 billion toward expanding access...more
Governor Northam recently signed into law a half dozen new employment laws affecting employers in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Among these new laws are two that, beginning on July 1, 2021, will provide new protections for...more
The arrival of spring typically equates to the ‘spring-cleaning’ of your home. In this article, I challenge family caregivers and those of you wishing to age in place to polish your knowledge and spruce up your care-planning...more
On November 25, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) gave hospitals facing another surge in COVID-19 patients more flexibility to care for Medicare patients outside of the walls of their hospitals. In...more
When New York adopted a wage parity law setting minimum wage and benefit levels for home care workers, innovative home health care agency companies created a captive plan structure to meet the benefits requirements. Although...more
On April 3, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the 2020-2021 state budget bills, part of which amended the Home Health Care Worker Wage Parity Law (“Wage Parity Law”). ...more
Yesterday, the Department of Labor issued temporary regulations regarding the “health care provider” exemption to employer-provided paid time off and paid leave under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”)....more
On March 30, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced additional measures to provide home health agencies (“HHA”) greater flexibility when treating patients during the National Emergency....more
On October 31, 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its 2020 payment and policy changes rule for Home Health Agencies (HHA Rule). The final rule is scheduled to be posted in the Federal...more
In two recent companion cases, Andryeyeva v. New York Health Care, Inc. and Moreno v. Future Care Health Services, Inc., the New York Court of Appeals upheld the New York State Department of Labor’s (NYSDOL) 13-hour rule for...more
The Social Security Act grants the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) the authority to impose a moratorium on enrollment of home health agencies (“HHAs”) in the Medicare and Medicaid programs if CMS...more