Home Health & Hospice Week
One State's HH Utilization Draws Attention
Texas home health agencies are squarely under the feds’ microscope. An OIG report last fall found suspicious billing activities at 1,000 of the 2,212 home health agencies in Texas in 2010, reports the Dallas News. (See Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXI, No. 29 for more information on the OIG report on suspicious HHA billing.)
In 2011, Medicare spending in Dallas was 25 percent higher than the national average, the newspaper reports. "Most of the difference between the Dallas County and national spending averages was because of the higher use of home health care.
Medicare spends an average of $1,624 for home health care for each Medicare beneficiary in Dallas County, while the national average is $546."
The trend held true for other North Texas counties as well. "Medicare spending in Collin, Denton and Tarrant counties was 12 percent to 24 percent above the national average in 2011. In each county, spending on home health care was at least double the national average," the News reports. The data is at cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/Medicare-Geographic-Variation/GV_PUF.html.
"Certainly nobody, none of our providers appreciates fraudulent agencies," Texas Association for Home Care & Hospice’s Rachel Hammon told the paper.
Home Health & Hospice Week
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One State's HH Utilization Draws Attention
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