WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 28, 2020)—The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare—a coalition of home health leaders dedicated to developing innovative reforms to improve the program integrity, quality, and efficiency of home healthcare for our nation's seniors—submitted comments this week to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to the CY 2021 Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) Proposed Rule.
CMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 28, 2020)—The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) submitted a letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar on the need for clear and timely guidance from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to state Medicaid and CHIP programs when HHS elects to end the current public health emergency (PHE).
NAHC to CMS: Roll Back 2020 Rate Adjustment Based on Faulty Prediction of HHA Behavior
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (August 25, 2020)—eSolutions, a health care technology company, is adding an enhancement to its Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Eligibility platform that allows DME providers to check for same or similar equipment items on multiple patients at once. This new enhancement, called Same or Similar Batch, verifies all Medicare HCPCS codes, including A, L and V codes, for same or similar equipment items.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced an application deadline extension for the Phase 2 general distribution to Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and dental providers, as part of an effort to provide financial relief to health care providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Benefiting fraud reduction & agency operations
WASHINGTON (August 5, 2020)—The Council for Quality Respiratory Care (CQRC)—a coalition of the nation's leading home oxygen therapy provider and manufacturing companies—commended a bipartisan coalition of 101 lawmakers led by Representatives Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and David Loebsack (D-IA) for sending a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar and CMS Administrator Seema Verma urging them to delay implementation of the Medicare Competitive Bidding Program (CBP) for Durable Medical Equipment,
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 24, 2020)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) could have saved $192 million by targeting home health claims for review with visits slightly above the threshold that triggers a higher Medicare payment, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health & Human Services.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 22, 2020)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Provider Burden Relief Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) that the suspension of Medicare fee for server (FFS) audits due to the COVID-19 public health emergency will be lifted beginning Aug. 3, 2020 (see page 1).
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 21, 2020)—The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) is urging the independent National Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes to ensure that residents of nursing homes have access to hospice care, whether in the form of safe, in-person visits or by telehealth communication.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 14, 2020)—The American Association for Homecare (AAHomecare) joined other health care groups in asking Congress to affirm tax-exempt status for recent relief for healthcare providers, as noted in a late June press release.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (July 10, 2020)—As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, the increased utilization of products directly responding to related respiratory challenges (ventilators, oxygen, sleep equipment, etc.) have the potential to skew state Medicaid programs’ spending and impact rates for the broader range of home medical equipment.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (July 1, 2020)—The Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed home health rule for calendar year (CY) 2021, outlining how the permanent home infusion therapy services benefit will be implemented, starting in January 2021.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 26, 2020)—On May 8, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Servics (CMS) published the second Interim Final Rule (IFR) that provided further relief and clarification for health care providers during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Specifically for DMEPOS, the IFR included the following provisions:
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 26, 2020)—The preview of the CY 2021 home health proposed rule, Medicare and Medicaid Programs; CY 2021 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update; Home Health Quality Reporting Requirements; and Home Infusion Therapy Services Requirements, has been posted.
WASHINGTON D.C. (June 23, 2020)—Under the leadership of President Trump, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is calling for a renewed national commitment to value-based care based on Medicare claims data that provides an early snapshot of the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the Medicare population.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 19, 2020)—As noted last week, HHS opened the application portal for CARES Act relief for Medicaid/CHIP-only providers. The new round of relief is for health care providers who have directly billed their state Medicaid/CHIP programs or Medicaid managed care plans between Jan.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 15, 2020)—While there are undoubtedly new challenges that all providers have had to deal with during this public health emergency (PHE), some hospices have dealt with exceptional challenges in serving residents of facilities (nursing homes, assisted living facilities, independent living, etc.).