Home Health & Hospice Week

Plus: P4P gets renewed emphasis from influential senators. With a new presidential administration and congressional majority itching to make sweeping health care changes, things soon could look very different for home care providers -- with some seriously negative consequences. And a new report from the Medicare Trustees predicting the Part A trust fund's insolvency in just eight years is adding fuel to the legislative fire. Increased emphasis on fraud and abusefighting activities is turning into a go-to solution for law- and policymakers looking for ways to trim the Medicare budget. In new 2010 budget proposal details released this month, President Obama proposes $485 million in savings due to "a multi-year increase in program integrity activities." "The adjustment ... will enable the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to more rapidly respond to emerging program integrity vulnerabilities through an increased capacity to identify excessive payments and new processes for identifying and correcting [...]