Fraud & Abuse:
OIG Gives Home Health Coverage An 'A,' But Fraud Pilot Still On Deck
Published on Fri Mar 16, 2012
Only 2 percent of reviewed claims fail OIG's coverage test. A new federal report on home health coverage contains some good news for a change, but that doesn't mean you should let down your guard. In a record review for 495 beneficiaries that used home health services in 2008, the HHS Office of Inspector General found only 2 percent of records for patients who failed to meet the home care eligibility requirements for homebound and skilled need. "Home health agencies are doing a fairly good job in determining Medicare coverage in spite of all the allegations of home health fraud and abuse," cheers the National Association for Home Care & Hospice. The "OIG's own analysis shows things aren't as bad as they like to pretend," says attorney Robert Markette Jr. with Benesch Friedlander Coplan & Aronoff in Indianapolis. "Although, they appear to be ready to ignore their own analysis," Markette [...]