Beyond Hospice: Home Health Agencies Plagued by UPICs and SMRCs
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
On March 26, 2019, the New York State Court of Appeals, New York’s highest Court, issued a highly anticipated decision that has major impacts for the home health care industry in New York. The question before the Court was...more
A Bit of Background Home health aides are often hired through a health care agency to work 24-hours shifts caring for elderly or infirm family members. But what about the law requiring employers to pay overtime where an...more
On March 26, 2019, the New York Court of Appeals upheld the state Department of Labor’s (the “DOL”) so-called “13-hour rule” governing payment of home health care aides that work 24 hour shifts....more
On March 26, 2019, the New York State Court of Appeals issued a ruling that will have a significant positive impact on home care agencies across the state. In a five-to-two decision, the Court upheld the validity of the New...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
With the number of U.S. residents aged 65 and older projected to more than double from 46 million today to over 98 million by 2060, home care agencies face a litany of difficulties. Among these are that home care agency...more
The home health care industry suffered a major setback on September 26, 2018, when the New York Supreme Court, New York County, ruled that the New York State Department of Labor's (NYDOL) emergency rulemaking amendment to the...more
Starting in 2019, providers of home health care services will be required to clock in electronically with Medicaid prior to performing services. However, disability rights advocates and a bipartisan group of senators are...more
The home care industry has faced collapse since a series of New York Appellate Division decisions invalidated New York Department of Labor (NY DOL) policy and held that home care attendants working 24-hour shifts who are...more
A recent federal court decision has added to the confusion surrounding the application of the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) "home care" overtime rule and New York's "13-hour" rule regarding compensable work hours for...more