Home Health & Hospice Week

The National Association for Home Care & Hospice’s lawsuit over the face-to-face physician encounter requirements is still proceeding, despite the pending regulatory changes to the physician narrative portion.

“The Department of Justice has filed a motion to dismiss with the court, arguing that the court does not have the power to hear the case,” the trade group says in an update for members. “This motion to dismiss is a typical action in Medicare litigation.”

The lawsuit will be important, even if the industry gets everything it wants in the 2015 final rule provisions on the change (see Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXIII, No. 32). “While it is anticipated that CMS will continue its plan to eliminate the narrative requirement, the lawsuit is continuing with the design of bringing a favorable resolution on the past-denied claims where Medicare contractors rejected physician narratives as ‘insufficient,’” NAHC notes.