Home Health & Hospice Week

In the 2011 prospective payment system proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finally sets out four exceptions to the rule. They include: • a publicly traded company purchasing another home health agency, when both have filed cost reports for five years; • an HHA parent company undergoing an internal restructuring such as a merger or consolidation when the HHA has submitted a cost report for five years; • the owners of an existing HHA decide to change the business structure, such as a partnership to a limited liability corporation, when the majority ownership remains unchanged; and • the death of an owner who owns 49 percent or less. Source: The PPS proposed rule is online at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-17753.pdf.