Home Health & Hospice Week

Home health agencies eager to move ahead with their Review Choice Demonstration preparations in light of the demo’s Dec. 10 implementation date are stymied by Paperwork Reduction Act requirements.

Under the RCD program, revamped from the previous Pre-Claim Review demo, HHAs in Illinois will be the first state to undergo RCD review on Dec. 10, CMS has said (see Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXVII, No. 35). HHAs will get to choose from three options for review — pre-claim review, post-payment review, and minimal review with a 25 percent penalty.

Hold up: But even with only a few weeks to go until the start date, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services won’t let agencies lock in their selection process until they get PRA approval, a CMS official said in the Nov. 14 Home Health Open Door Forum.