Home Health & Hospice Week
Senate Nixes $14 Million Cut To Medicaid In Budget Resolution
House hangs on to $20 million cut.
The U.S. House and Senate have approved their budget resolutions for 2006, and they have a big disagreement on Medicaid.
The Senate resolution originally included language directing the Senate Finance Committee to cut $15 billion from mandatory programs, of which $14 billion was expected to come from Medicaid, according to press reports. The House version included an expected $20 billion of similar cuts.
But on March 17, the Senate approved an amendment nixing the Medicaid cuts and instead proposing a study on Medicaid. The Senate passed its amended resolution that day, and the House passed its original version.
Now the bodies will duke it out in the reconciliation process to determine whether any of the Medicaid cuts are included in the final combined resolution.
"Many states face a Medicaid funding squeeze," notes the American Association for Homecare. "Homecare organizations have repeatedly made the case for making dollars go farther by devoting more Medicaid resources to homecare, which is patient-preferred and cost-effective," the association says in a release.
To access outcome-based quality improvement (OBQI) and error reports on the upgraded system, home health agencies have to meet new minimum system requirements by Dec. 31, says a March 10 memo to surveyors (S&C 05-22).
A recent CMS survey of nursing homes found about one-third of the facilities use computers that need upgrades to support the new software. Although CMS didn't survey HHAs, the agency said most systems at HHAs are likely due for an overhaul as well.
The memo, including the new system specs, is at www.cms.hhs.gov/medicaid/survey-cert/sc0522.pdf.
The bill also proposes to forbid HHAs from hiring workers listed as negligent on the state's Health Care Personnel Registry and give patients a list of rights, the newspaper says. Observers expect the bill to be passed as part of the state budget, unless budget-cutting prevents it.
The state's Medicaid program requested the moratorium after hospice spending increased from $5.5 million in 1998 to $37.4 million in 2004. The move has put at least one request for an inpatient hospice approval on ice, the newspaper says.
The profit dip was due in part to costs related to NHHC's Connecticut subsidiary being notified in October that it was out of compliance with a Condition of Participation and nine standards regarding Medicare certification. The subsidiary has submitted a plan of correction that was accepted by the state, the company says.
Prior to opening his DME company, Letcher County Home Medical, operator James Narramore allegedly denied any criminal history in his application to Kentucky Medicaid. That false assurance helped him obtain a Medicaid provider agreement, Stumbo said.
Letcher allegedly took in more than $400,000 in Medicaid billings after submitting the fraudulent application. Prosecutors say if Narramore offers to pay restitution for the claims, the AG will look favorably upon withdrawing the prison sentence.
The settlement follows an April 2000 report by the state Inspector General that found widespread waste and abuse from 1995 to 1999 in the Medicaid Orthopedic Footwear Program.
A subsequent investigation by the state attorney general found that the majority of orthopedic footwear providers had submitted incorrect claims for orthopedic shoes and inserts that had resulted in excessive payments.
The orthopedic providers included in the settlement are: Advanced Orthopedic Services, Atlantic Prosthetics & Orthotics Company, Bill Chancey's Pedorthics, Boston Brace International, Cornell Orthotics & Prosthetics, Hanger Prosthetics & Orthotics East, Joel P. Dwyer C.P.O. Prosthetics & Orthotics, Ocean Orthopedic Services, Orthotic Consultants, Orthotics & Prosthetics Laboratories, Orthotics West, Pioneer Valley Orthotics & Prosthetics, Prosthetic & Orthotic Labs of Worcester, Therapeutic Shoe Corp. and The William A. Allen Co.
Home Health & Hospice Week
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Senate Nixes $14 Million Cut To Medicaid In Budget Resolution
House hangs on to $20 million cut.
The U.S. House and Senate have approved their budget [...]
