Medicare Halts Enrollments for Hospice, Home Health Care Providers in Fraud Crackdown

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has temporarily halted the enrollment of providers of hospice care and home health agencies into the Medicare program, effective May 13. The action comes as part of a crackdown on fraud, waste, and abuse in what the agency considered high-risk categories, meaning significant sources of fraudulent billing. “We’ve seen systemic and deeply troubling fraud in the hospice and home health space, with bad actors exploiting some of our most vulnerable Medicare patients and stealing money from the American taxpayer,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the agency, said in a May 13 announcement of the action....