Home Health & Hospice Week

Aclass action lawsuit on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries could liberalize home care coverage for benes with chronic illnesses. The Center for Medicare Advocacy filed a lawsuit in Vermont federal court against the Health and Human Services Department on Jan. 18. The suit seeks to eliminate any requirement that therapy and rehabilitation must lead to improvement for Medicare coverage purposes. "This has been the main barrier keeping people from getting the care and services they need," CMA's Judith Stein told the press. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services actually has already improved home health therapy regulations contained in the 2011 final prospective payment system rule regarding the improvement requirement, CMA says on its website. But that "clarification" hasn't gone far enough, the group contends. "We need the policies at all levels cleared up," Stein told The Hill newspaper. "It's not resolved sufficiently."