CMS is taking action to address benefit integrity issues related to hospice care

CMS is taking action to address benefit integrity issues related to hospice care 
CMS Newsroom; by Dara A. Corrigan and Dora L. Hughes, MD, MPH; 8/22/24 [posted 8/27/24]
... Unfortunately, hospices are profiting from fraud at the expense of beneficiaries far too often. Recent media reporting, and research by CMS, have identified instances of hospices certifying patients for hospice care when they were not terminally ill and providing little to no services to patients. The media reports identified that these activities led to a rapid growth in potentially fraudulent hospices, particularly in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas. Some of the addresses listed for these hospices also appeared to be non-operational. ... In response to these findings, CMS revisited and revitalized our hospice program integrity strategy, focusing on identifying bad actors and addressing fraudulent activity to minimize impacts to beneficiaries in the Medicare program. As part of this strategy, CMS embarked on a nationwide hospice site visit project, making unannounced site visits to every Medicare-enrolled hospice. [Click here to continue reading this significant information from CMS.]