WASHINGTON—Tom Koutsoumpas, founder and CEO of The National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation (NPHI)—which represents more than 120 nonprofit hospice and palliative care providers serving 20% of the nation’s hospice patients—has authored a guest commentary piece in U.S. News titled, “Everyone Deserves a Dignified Death. But Hospice Care Is Under Threat.” 

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia & WASHINGTON—The Research Institute for Home Care (the Institute) and the National Alliance for Care at Home (the Alliance) announced they have entered into an affiliation agreement. The companies said the agreement is "to strengthen and expand research efforts while further unifying the care at home movement." The agreement is effective immediately.

WASHINGTON—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched an oversight initiative to ensure that enrollees in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) are United States citizens, U.S. nationals or have a satisfactory immigration status. 

COLUMBUS, Ohio—In indictments filed this week by the office of Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, 10 Medicaid providers are accused of stealing a combined $1.9 million from Medicaid.

Nine home health aides and one provider of home-delivered meals face varying felony charges of Medicaid fraud and theft for allegedly billing Medicaid for services they did not provide. Two of the defendants alone account for more than $1.7 million of the alleged fraud.  

BOSTON—An Alabama-based doctor has been charged and has agreed to plead guilty in connection with an alleged $6 million telemedicine fraud scheme involving medically unnecessary durable medical equipment (DME) and genetic testing primarily used to detect mutations in genes that could indicate a higher risk of developing certain types of cancers.

BOSTON—The attorney general’s office (AGO) of Massachusetts announced that Union Home Health Care Services, a Worcester, Massachusetts-based group adult foster care (GAFC) provider, and its administrator, Bernice Codjia, age 41, pleaded guilty in Worcester Superior Court to charges related to a scheme to defraud MassHealth, the state’s Medicaid program, of more than $1.6 million.

MOORESTOWN, New Jersey—BAYADA Home Health Care announced the start of a leadership role transition that will conclude with current Chief Executive Officer David Baiada moving into a new role on the BAYADA Board of Directors upon the appointment of the company’s next CEO.  

TEMPE, Arizona—SYNERGY HomeCare announced its first location in West Virginia, SYNERGY HomeCare in Barboursville.  

The company is owned and operated by Chris Lowe—a United States Army veteran who went on to earn a finance degree from Marshall University, followed by a Master of Business Administration in health care administration from Ohio University.

REXBURG, Idaho—Activated Insights announced the release of its 16th Annual Benchmarking Report for homecare, home health and hospice.

LEBANON, Tennessee—Permobil, a global provider of complex rehabilitation technology, announced the appointment of Todd Walling as president of Permobil Americas. Walling currently serves as senior vice president of sales for the region and will now also join Permobil’s global leadership team.