Home Health & Hospice Week

Don't be surprised to see fraud and abuse enforcement ramp up for home care pro-viders. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has "identified two types of providers whose services and items are especially vulnerable to improper payments -- home health agencies (HHA) and suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS)," the Government Accountability Office says in a recent report about Medicare and Medicaid waste, fraud, and abuse. Numerous congressional committees have held hearings on fraud and abuse in the Medicare program this month, including the Senate Finance Committee, the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee, the House Energy & Commerce Committee, and the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. The GAO report is online at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d11409t.pdf.