Category Archives: Home Health Services

Well, we’ve been waiting for awhile and now it’s been made public:  the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on June 9 that it was releasing $25 billion in funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to high Medicaid providers and to safety net hospitals.  President Trump signed the CARES Act into law on March 27; the CARES law and a subsequent law appropriated $175 billion to a Provider Relief Fund to address the needs of healthcare providers that had increased expenses or lost revenues due to COVID-19. … More

We’ve written previously about the the 2014 final regulation issued by the Obama administration making significant updates to the requirements for the qualities of settings eligible for reimbursement for Medicaid home-and-community-based services (HCBS) provided under sections 1915(c), 1915(i) and 1915(k) of the Medicaid statute. With the deadline for full compliance nearing (HCBS providers must comply with the new requirements by March 17, 2022,… More

This is a brief post about a CMS proposed rule that sort of slipped under the radar last week.  But it has the potential to raise some eyebrows because it is clearly designed to make it harder for labor unions to collect dues from some home health care workers who are paid directly by Medicaid.

Section 1902(a)(32) of the Social Security Act prohibits reassignment of Medicaid funds, and only allows Medicaid funds to be paid directly to individuals performing health care services,… More

One of the major concerns that policymakers deal with constantly in federal health care programs like Medicare and Medicaid is the risk of program fraud and abuse.  And although there are a plethora of statutes designed to address these concerns – the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Civil Monetary Penalties statute, to name a few – Congress, CMS and law enforcement are always on the lookout for ways to nip fraudulent activities in the bud. … More