Help for home health? Due date approaching for repayment of COVID-19 loans
By
Diane Eastabrook
Mar 23, 2021
Some home healthcare providers soon may be in for a rude awakening. Bills for Medicare Accelerated and Advanced Payments to the federal government come due in a few weeks.
Banach: NHPCO ‘hopeful’ that CMS will provide community-based palliative care benefit in 2021
By
Liza Berger
Mar 23, 2021
The leader of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) said Monday that there is a strong possibility that Medicare will begin offering a community-based palliative care benefit this...
Senators urge expansion of HCBS, telehealth
By
Diane Eastabrook
Mar 19, 2021
Lawmakers and public policy experts are calling on Congress to expand home- and community-based services (HCBS) and telehealth as the U.S. emerges from the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
‘Ticking time bomb’ could invalidate thousands of rules pertaining to older adults: HHS lawsuit
By
Kimberly Bonvissuto
Mar 17, 2021
A Trump administration rule finalized the day before President Biden’s inauguration is a “ticking time bomb” that could invalidate thousands of other rules, including protections for the elderly,...
MedPAC to Congress: Reduce payments to home health in 2022, expand telehealth beyond public health emergency
By
Diane Eastabrook
Mar 17, 2021
In a report to Congress this week, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) offered several key recommendations, including reducing payments for home healthcare agencies in 2022 and extending...
Organization praises CMS for preserving patients’ access to home respiratory care
By
Liza Berger
Mar 17, 2021
The Council for Quality Respiratory Care, a coalition of the nation’s leading home respiratory therapy providers and manufacturing companies, on Tuesday lauded the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services...
CMS further delays start of Primary Care First-Seriously Ill Population model
By
Joe Jancsurak
Mar 17, 2021
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has disclosed another delay — but no definitive timeline — of its Primary Care First-Seriously Ill Population physician payment model, which the hospice...
Brookdale faces SNF lawsuit from coalition including Biden’s pick for HHS secretary
By
Lois A. Bowers
Mar 16, 2021
A lawsuit filed Monday accuses Brookdale Senior Living of lying to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to inflate the star ratings awarded to some of its skilled nursing facilities. The legal...
Home healthcare providers to receive higher Medicare payment for administering COVID-19 vaccines
By
Diane Eastabrook
Mar 16, 2021
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services now will pay healthcare providers, including home health care and hospice, more money to administer COVID-19 vaccines.
Long-term care should include more HCBS, panelists assert
By
Liza Berger
Mar 12, 2021
The long-term care system in coming years should include an expansion of home- and community-based services (HCBS), policy, advocacy and consumer experts said during a virtual roundtable discussion Thursday...