The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) needs to put into effect a rule it made more than a decade ago requiring home health agencies to obtain surety bonds as a mechanism to protect Medicare from overpayments, says the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). It’s been 15 years since CMS first promulgated the […]
Category: Medicare
More patients would be able to access home health care through Medicare benefits to treat chronic conditions as a result of a class action lawsuit settlement with policy implications announced this week. In the proposed settlement, the Obama Administration has agreed to abandon a former policy that required Medicare recipients to show a likelihood of […]
The Medicare Fraud Strike Force operations has busted 91 individuals—among them doctors, nurses, and other licensed medical professionals—for their alleged participation in Medicare fraud schemes involving approximately $429.2 million in false billing, Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently announced. The bulk of the fraudulent billing, at more […]
Flexpoint Ford, LLC, a private equity firm that focuses on the health care and financial services sectors, has completed the $71 million sale of IntegraCare Holdings, Inc. to Kindred Healthcare, Inc. The transaction includes a potential $4 million earn out based on 2013 earnings. IntegraCare, headquartered in Grapevine, Tex., is a Medicare and Medicaid certified […]
Home care has been included in the political platforms of both Democrats and Republicans, signaling a shared view of the importance of aging in place and home- and community-based options for seniors. On the GOP side, the modernization of Medicaid and the prioritization of home care were emphasized. “Because seniors overwhelmingly desire to age at […]
Representative Tom Price, M.D. (R-Ga.) has agreed to introduce a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives replacing the current Medicare competitive bidding program for durable medical equipment and prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) with a market pricing program (MPP), a move strongly supported by many home health care groups. The Centers for Medicare & […]
Home health care and hospice provider IntegraCare has been acquired by Kindred Healthcare, Inc. (NYSE:KND), a Louisville, Ky.-based long-term care and rehabilitation services provider, for up to $75 millon. IntegraCare Holdings, Inc., is a Texas-based portfolio company of private equity firm Flexpoint Ford LLC, and was purchased for $71 million in cash plus up to […]
More healthcare providers are seeing their Medicare reimbursement claims denied and are needing to provide more information to the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs), according to results of the American Hospital Association’s RACTrac Survey for the second quarter of 2012, as the agency continues its attempts to limit inaccurate […]
A Detroit man pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud after managing a $13.8 million Medicare fraud scheme, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Jawad Ahmed managed home health agency Physicians Choice Home Health Care LLC (Physicians Choice), and used the company to deliver kickbacks to […]
Some of California’s elderly in need of home health services are being cared for by convicted felons, made possible in part by a flawed system that is “rife with loopholes,” reports the local NBC affiliate, allowing people to sign waivers allowing felon caretakers to care for them despite their backgrounds—and despite the criminal activity they […]
Subscribe
Receive industry updates and breaking news from HHCN