HHS-OIG Issues Alert to Home Health Agencies and Doctors

Chicago – Not surprisingly in light of the recent charges and convictions of home health agencies (HHA) and related entities in the Chicago area and throughout the country, the Department of Health and Human Service, Office of Inspector General, (HHS-OIG) issued an Alert reporting that the OIG found home health services susceptible to fraud.

HHAs have been accused of violating the anti-kickback statute by paying for referrals, while doctors have been accused of receiving kickbacks for these referrals. The government may consider any payment arrangement a kickback if the payment is not fair and reasonable. Another area of concern for the HHS-OIG was the billing of home health services for patients who were not homebound, as defined in the regulations, billing for care plan oversight services that were not performed, and upcoding patient encounters. One key factor found by the HHS-OIG was that doctors participating in these schemes were usually not the Medicare beneficiary’s primary care physician.

If you have information about fraud, waste, or abuse of a government program, including Medicare/Medicaid click here, or if you need representation as a result of a government audit or investigation, click here. Mike Rosenblat, at 847-480-2390, or mike@www.rosenblatlaw.com