CMS Implements Six-Month Moratorium on New Medicare Enrollment
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced it is "taking decisive action to protect Medicare beneficiaries and taxpayer dollars" through implementation of a six-month, nationwide data-driven moratoria on new Medicare enrollment for hospices and home health agencies. "The moratoria will allow CMS to temporarily halt the influx of new providers into these high-risk categories-a key source of fraudulent activity. Today's move continues the Trump Administration's crackdown on fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare program by stopping improper billing and preventing bad actors from entering the system," CMS stated. Publicly traded hospice and home health agency operators include Amedisys (AMED), Enhabit (EHAB), Addus HomeCare (ADUS), Pennant Group (PNTG), BrightSpring Health (BTSG) Aveanna (AVAH) and Ensign Group (ENSG).
