Home Health & Hospice Week

Meanwhile, HHAs in Houston, Texas are getting a black eye in the press, thanks to a Houston Chronicle article profiling the city's high rate of Medicare spending for HHAs and those agencies' numerous survey deficiencies. The 468 agencies in the Houston area received $1.25 billion in Medicare payments in the past four years, the Chronicle points out. Some of the claims in America's fourth-largest city are the result of "fraudsters" who "bill for services not rendered," U.S. Attorney Justo Mendez told the newspaper. The paper cites HHAs that received up to 32 deficiencies but still receive Medicare dollars. HHAs rebut that they're being overly scrutinized because of fraud in the industry, with nearly every agency getting dinged for infractions that aren't that serious. Agencies singled out for newspaper scrutiny noted that they corrected all their deficiencies. Federal officials in Houston say they are investigating kickback schemes and billing for services [...]