Insights on Home Health, Hospice & Palliative Care

In November, we wrote about Massachusetts legislative and regulatory updates that impact both nursing homes and assisted living residences.

How Massachusetts senior living providers need to be thinking about the recently enacted Long Term Care Reform Law and a recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services audit of nursing homes.

On March 5, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the US Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division, and the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) launched a cross-government inquiry into the role private equity firms, other alternative asset managers, health systems, and private payers play in health care transactions.

Publicizing home health agency and hospice agency ownership information furthers President Biden’s goal to promote competition and make data more transparent for consumers, as noted in his July 2021 Executive Order.

On February 15, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule which would require greater disclosures of the ownership and management of Medicare and Medicaid nursing homes.

On January 18, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Memorandum to all state survey agency directors addressing erroneous schizophrenia coding and increased transparency of Nursing Home Care Compare. 

CMS recently imposed Civil Monetary Penalties against two Georgia hospitals for failing to comply with the 2021 Price Transparency Rule, which requires hospitals to publish the standard costs of their items or services on a public website. 

Health Care Partner Rachel Hold-Weiss and Associate Michele Gipp will lead Weatherbee Resources Hospice Compliance Network Webinar Series’ upcoming webinar addressing how to handle HIPAA breaches in hospice care.

Rachel Hold-Weiss will present during the 2020 American Health Law Association’s (AHLA) Annual Meeting. Rachel’s presentation “Hindsight is 2020: A Look at Home Health and Hospice in the New Decade,” focuses on compliance and regulatory issues for home health and hospice providers.

CMS issued an MLN Matters Special Edition Article on April 17, 2020, regarding waivers for rural health clinics (RHCs) and federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) permitting flexibility during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE).

To address provider shortages, CMS issued a declaration on April 9, 2020, setting forth new “Blanket Waivers,” which, among other things, allow practitioners to practice across state borders (if permitted by the state) and at the top of their license.

To address the COVID-19 national emergency, hospitals throughout the country are seeking to bolster their ranks of health care providers.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a memorandum to State Survey Agency Directors that provides further guidance regarding survey priorities for health care facilities, providers, and clinical laboratories due to COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.

Health Care Practice Group Co-Leader Douglas Grimm and Counsel Susanna Hathaway Murphy were recently quoted in an International Business Times article. The article addresses the Coronavirus aftermath and the related impact on the economy and the health care industry.

In response to an executive order by California Governor Gavin Newsom, the California Department of Public Health has issued an All Facilities Letter waiving hospital regulatory requirements and suspending regulatory enforcement until June 30, 2020, with certain exceptions.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak, California has taken the extraordinary action of limiting the regulatory enforcement of most licensed health facility requirements.

Assisted living providers are uniquely impacted by the spread of COVID-19 because they offer a hybrid homelike and health care setting for one of the country’s most vulnerable populations.

As the spread of COVID-19 accelerates across the United States, hospitals, health systems, and other providers face unique challenges. Arent Fox’s Health Care Group analyzes what you need to know about regulatory changes and guidance from the federal government.

Patient safety is a key priority for hospitals and other providers. Yet, patient safety may be especially challenging for marginalized groups, according to the authors of an article recently published in the International Journal for Equity in Health.

Effective March 13, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revised its Guidance for Infection Control and Prevention of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Nursing Homes (Revised Guidance).  

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a voluntary model within the Medicare Part D program that would allow certain Part D plans to cap Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket costs for insulin.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a memo to Medicare Advantage Organizations and Part D Sponsors to inform them of their obligations and permissible flexibilities related to disasters and emergencies resulting from COVID-19.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a second Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code to be used by laboratories for the testing and tracking of new cases of the 2019-Novel Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced in two letters to State Survey Agencies new guidance for infection control and prevention concerning coronavirus 2019.

On February 12, 2020, the New York State Department of Health (DOH) issued a Dear Administrator Letter clarifying DOH’s policies for hospice patients residing in adult care facilities (ACF) when those ACF Hospice Residents are no longer capable of self-administration of medications.