George B. Breen, Chair of the firm’s National Health Care and Life Sciences Practice Steering Committee, will co-present “Home Health Care Fraud Enforcement in 2016 and Beyond: It’s Not Just About Money,” a session at the Visiting Nurse Associations of America 34th Annual Meeting.
The headlines are replete with enforcement actions focused on home health care providers. Medicare home health expenditures totaled $16.6 billion in 2013, and between 2010 and 2014, nearly $1 billion in improper Medicare payments and fraud had reportedly been identified relating to the home health benefit, according to HHS’ Office of Inspector General (“OIG”). Earlier this year, CMS announced it was developing a pilot program to determine how many Medicare fraud cases are taking place in home health agencies; its initial pilot focuses on South Florida which accounted for $2.1 billion of total Medicare home health spending in 2013.
While large dollar settlements are noteworthy, examples of the government’s increasing focus on individual accountability are becoming more common. This means that providers need to be concerned about the potential for exposure to both civil and criminal enforcement. This presentation will address the civil and criminal enforcement risks home health providers face in 2016 and beyond.
For more information, visit VNAA.org.