CMS Imposes 6-Month Moratorium on New Hospice, Home Health Enrollments

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced a six-month moratorium Wednesday on new enrollments for hospice and home health providers in Medicare, aiming to curb widespread fraud in these sectors.

CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz described the move as essential to protect vulnerable patients. "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," Oz said in a statement. "Today we're shutting the door on fraud, preventing new bad actors from entering Medicare while we aggressively identify, investigate, and remove those already exploiting them."

The moratorium builds on prior CMS actions against fraud. Earlier this year, the agency imposed a similar nationwide pause on enrollments for suppliers of durable medical equipment, such as wheelchairs and oxygen devices. In Los Angeles, CMS suspended $70 million in payments to 773 hospices and 23 home health agencies suspected of fraud. The agency has also revoked or deactivated hundreds of providers nationwide for improper activity, increased oversight of new hospice...