Beyond Hospice: Home Health Agencies Plagued by UPICs and SMRCs
California lawmakers continuously grapple with the “Iron Triangle” of healthcare—a principle positing that cost, quality, and access are interdependent, with any improvement in one area likely necessitating compromises in the...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
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
Governor Hochul signed the New York State Budget for fiscal year 2023-2024 into law on May 3, 2023, bringing with it sweeping changes to the way home health care agencies and home care staffing agencies in the state will...more
On April 27, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking entitled Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services (Proposed Rule) which would, among other things, establish...more
The New York State Department of Health (DOH) recently released a “Dear Administrator Letter” (DAL) DHCSB 22-02 for Licensed Home Care Services Agencies (LCHSAs). The DAL addresses guidance and procedures for LCHAs as they...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
New York’s vast home care industry and those who rely on their services breathed a sigh of relief on March 26, 2019, when the New York Court of Appeals gave providers the green light to continue to pay home care aides for 13...more
The day most anxiously anticipated (or dreaded) by the vast home care industry in New York has arrived, and a huge sigh of relief from home care agencies and New Yorkers who rely on their services can be heard across the...more
Yesterday the New York Court of Appeals issued its long-awaited decision on 24-hour shift home health aides who work as “sleep-in” workers....more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would postpone the initiation of the CMS Pre-Claim Review Demonstration for Home Health Services (the “Demonstration”) in Florida, which was scheduled to...more
Recent actions by federal agencies and courts will have a direct impact on employers in the health care industry. While still wrestling with the changes wrought by the Affordable Care Act, health care employers will now need...more
On Oct. 8, the House Republican caucus did not select a candidate for Speaker of the House and selection has been delayed. The current Speaker, John Boehner (R-OH), had announced that he would step down and retire from...more
EEOC Says Your Health Team LLC Fired Employee Because of Pregnancy - DALLAS - The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced today that it has filed suit against Your Health Team, L.L.C. for violating...more
Home health care providers could expect to pay their employees more after the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held an exemption of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) no longer applies to third-party employers of...more
The U. S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit unanimously upheld a Department of Labor (DOL) rule which extended the Fair Labor Standard Act’s (FLSA) minimum wage and overtime protections to certain home...more
The latest twist in the ongoing saga involving the U.S. Department of Labor's changes in its regulatory provisions affecting the Fair Labor Standard Act's Section 13(a)(15) "companionship" exemption and the FLSA's Section...more
As we reported earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Labor has been fighting nearly 14 months of legal challenges in connection with its attempt to modify the FLSA’s companionship exemption. On Friday, the U.S. Circuit...more
On June 29 and 30, 2015, the Connecticut General Assembly conducted a special legislative session following the close of the 2015 regular session. Among other things, the General Assembly passed a bill to implement the state...more
On July 10, 2015, CMS published in the Federal Register the CY 2016 Home Health Prospective Payment System proposed rule effective for episodes ending on or after January 1, 2016. CMS estimates that the net impact of the...more
Lessons From the Frontlines: Strategies for Supporting Informed Consumer Decision-Making in the Health Insurance Marketplace - Editor's Note: As marketplaces prepare for the third open enrollment period, consumers are...more
Recent audits by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) conclude that state survey agencies in a number of states and a leading national accrediting agency serving the home health and...more
Healthcare provider institutions including hospitals, clinics, medical practices, nursing homes and home health care providers (here, “Institutions”) are occasionally called upon to balance the preferences of Consumers...more
Last October, the federal Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division sent shockwaves through the home health care industry by issuing final rules declaring most of its employees to be subject to FLSA minimum wage and...more