Home Health & Hospice Week

HHA, hospice, and DME prone to overutilization, fraud, and abuse, commission says. If you thought the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission would back off home care in the face of big payment cuts and regulatory changes set to take effect in January, think again. Medicare's home care payments are very vulnerable to fraud and abuse at worst and overutilization at best, said the influential advisory body to Congress in its Sept. 14 meeting in Washington, D.C. That's because while a physician prescribes the services or equipment, other providers furnish them, noted MedPAC staffer David Glass in the meeting. Another risk factor: Home care, including home health agency and hospice services and durable medical equipment, is generally furnished in the home instead of in a facility environment. That means there is little supervision and home care providers usually don't need much capital to enter the program, Glass explained. The complete lack of [...]