The Obama administration has proposed a new rule to extend minimum wage and overtime coverage for the nearly 2 million workers who provide home health care services for the elderly, according to a White House announcement. The U.S. Labor Department … Keep Reading

CMS is transitioning the CMSNet connectivity from AT&T to Verizon. This transition will change how you submit your OASIS data to the state. Previously, AT&T provided the connectivity to CMS for OASIS submissions. With this new change, Verizon will be … Keep Reading

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS released its final 2012 HHPPS regulation October 31, 2011. According to IHHC, “The 2012 National Episode Rate will be a little higher than was proposed because CMS has decided to phase in … Keep Reading

On October 1, 2013, the ICD-9 code sets used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures will be replaced by ICD-10 code sets. To accommodate the ICD-10 code structure, the transaction standards used for electronic health care claims, Version 4010/4010A, … Keep Reading

Effective January 1, 2012 the federal government has mandated that all covered entities (including providers, clearinghouses and health plans) must transition to the latest version of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) electronic transaction standards and code sets. … Keep Reading

NEWARK N.J.—Home health-care provider Maxim Healthcare Services Co. has agreed to pay $150 million as part of a settlement with federal and state authorities to resolve criminal and civil allegations that it falsely billed government health-care benefits programs. The privately … Keep Reading

WASHINGTON – A Miami-area medical doctor who owned two medical offices pleaded guilty today for his participation in a $25 million home health Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Department of Justice, FBI and the Department of Health and Human Services … Keep Reading

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is requiring that all providers and suppliers enrolled with Medicare prior to March 25, 2011, must revalidate their enrollment information. Basically, all providers (home health agencies included) that bill Medicare for services provided … Keep Reading

AARP CEO Barry Rand released a statement today in response to a report in the Washington Post that the White House was open to making cuts in programs such as Social Security and Medicare to reach an agreement with Republicans … Keep Reading

More than one million of California’s older and disabled population will receive a birthday gift this year that they may not have asked for: membership in a state-sponsored managed-care plan. They’re now covered by Medicaid, the state-federal program for the … Keep Reading

Across the nation, and especially in communities that attract a lot of older Americans, the free-love generation is continuing to enjoy an active — if not always healthy — sex life. At a stage in life when many would expect … Keep Reading

It is an oddity of American health care: Many nursing homes and home care agencies do not provide health insurance to their workers. Most home health agencies bills Medicaid or Medicare for their services and because they do not have … Keep Reading