Hospice News

JULY 26, 2024

A hospice physician in California is facing up to a decade in prison after pleading guilty for their involvement in a kickback fraud scheme that bilked Medicare of nearly $30 million. Contreras served as a physician for two Pasadena-based providers, Saint Mariam Hospice Inc. and Arcadia Hospice Provider Inc.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 20, 2024

John Thropay, a hospice medical director, on charges of health care fraud in a $2.8 Thropay was the medical director of several hospice companies, including Blue Sky Hospice, based in Van Nuys, California. million scheme. Justice Department indicated. “In The former medical director will be sentenced on May 28.

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Hospice News

JUNE 10, 2024

Petros Fichidzhyan, Juan Carlos Esparza and Karpis Srapyan allegedly owned and operated a series of sham hospice companies that they falsely claimed were owned by “foreign nationals,” according to the U.S. Justice Department.

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Hospice News

MARCH 29, 2024

The 2025 proposed hospice rule is raising some questions along with payment rates. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a 2.6% increase in hospice per diems for 2025. We know that hospice care has demonstrated $3.5 Hospice care saves Medicare roughly $3.5

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Hospice News

AUGUST 22, 2022

Rumors that the company would come up for sale began circulating earlier this month following reports from the Wall Street Journal, which also reported that Amazon was in the running as a buyer. None of the companies are commenting to the media about a potential sale or bids.

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Hospice News

JUNE 21, 2023

With wages, salaries and associated costs rising nationwide , hospices are straining under the weight. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed 2.8% While some hospice companies have reported hiring and capacity gains in recent months, often driven by bonus programs, the problem persists for many providers.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 12, 2022

Hospices and Accountable Care Organizations have the ability to customize payment contracts within the Realizing Equity, Access and Community Health (ACO REACH) program. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is replacing the Global and Professional Direct Contracting (GPDC) model with ACO REACH. Effective Jan.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 26, 2024

While some hospice companies reported hiring and capacity gains in 2023, often driven by bonus programs, the problem persists for many providers. The close of the years also saw some earnings stabilization among publicly traded companies. These relationships can help generate cost savings and bolster hospices’ bargaining power.

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Hospice News

JULY 3, 2023

The practice appears to stem from a rash of newly licensed hospices that have emerged in California, Nevada, Texas and Arizona. Some of these providers have secured licenses, as well as Medicare certification and, sometimes, accreditation. In that time frame, Nevada saw 56 newly certified hospices, and 369 emerged in Texas.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 29, 2023

A federal judge has sentenced Jesus Virlar-Cadena, formerly a medical director for the Texas-based hospice company Merida Group, to 50 months in prison for his role in a $152 million scheme. The Justice Department accused Virlar-Cadena of personally certifying more than $18 million in fraudulent hospice claims. “In

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Hospice News

MARCH 1, 2024

Frontpoint Health has completed its acquisition of the Texas-based home health and hospice company High Plains Senior Care Group (HPSC). The HPSC deal expands Frontpoint’s footprint and builds density in markets the company already serves, according to CEO Brent Korte. Financial terms were undisclosed.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023

Medicare Advantage organization SCAN Group has invested an undisclosed dollar amount in tech-enabled hospice startup Guaranteed. The move comes nearly a year after California-based Guaranteed launched in August 2022, when founder and CEO Jessica McGlory began her own provider company two years after her father passed away.

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Hospice News

APRIL 6, 2023

Kevin Sarkisyan, of San Gabriel Hospice & Palliative Care, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the government for his involvement in submitting false enrollment applications to Medicare that hid the “real owners of a hospice company,” according to court documents.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 26, 2022

Karen Sarkisyan, Gayk Akhsharumov, and Babken Chalkadryan, of San Gabriel Hospice & Palliative Care and Broadway Hospice were each charged in the U.S The Justice Department is now investigating allegations of widespread fraud in how some of those funds were used, as well as possible instances involving the Provider Relief Fund.

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Hospice News

JANUARY 19, 2023

Four national hospice and senior care industry groups have called on Congress and the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to make regulatory and legislative changes to instill stronger program integrity safeguards. The Hospice Program Integrity plan lists 34 recommendations that center around five key areas.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 29, 2022

Also on the table is the question of how to meet the needs of Medicare beneficiaries who increasingly seek to receive care in their homes, according to Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) Director Elizabeth Fowler. “In Going forward, this could mean greater collaboration with private-sector payers and providers. .

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Some hospice company leaders have signaled the labor market may be showing signs of stabilization. For Signify’s likely new parent company, CVS Health, more deal announcements are likely in the next 24 months, particularly in the value-based care and home health arenas, company executives indicated on the bus tour.

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Hospice News

NOVEMBER 8, 2023

(NYSE: EHAB) is continuing to mull over a potential sale, with executives providing few details as the company determines its next steps. The Dallas-based home health and hospice company has been digging into a strategic review process since August that could result in a possible sale or merger of some or all of its assets. “As

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Hospice News

JUNE 26, 2023

This marks Optum’s second purchase of a massive home health and hospice company, as the insurance behemoth continues to beef up its presence in the provider space, including its home-based capabilities. Another factor is the rising tide of Medicare Advantage, particularly on the home health side.

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Hospice News

FEBRUARY 14, 2023

“If you think about how they’ve taken on strains in their capacity, these post-acute services – home health and hospice – they can get patients out of very expensive settings,” Klementz told Hospice News at the Home Care 100 Conference. Among the 1.6 Among the 1.6

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Hospice News

JUNE 22, 2023

SEIU analyzed Medicare claims data showing that the average hospice transfer rate among HCA hospital discharges was nearly 40% above the national average in 2021 and represented a 50% growth rate over four years. For one, hospice utilization has been on a steady upswing nationally for several years. told Hospice News.

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Hospice News

SEPTEMBER 1, 2023

New rules for changes in hospice ownership are likely to slow down or kill some mergers and acquisitions, according to Ari Markenson, partner at the law firm Venable LLP. Another recently proposed rule would require anyone who holds 5% ownership or more in a hospice must submit to a criminal background check, including fingerprints.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 13, 2022

A coalition of hospice industry organizations recently urged the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to examine the issue and to consider actions like targeted moratoria on licenses. The agency will also implement a hospice program complaint hotline through which the public can report issues to CMS.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 19, 2022

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed new approaches for enforcing hospice regulations that will become effective on Jan. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed new approaches for enforcing hospice regulations that will become effective on Jan.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 21, 2022

Hospices simply did not have enough staff to meet demand, which drove some of them out of business. Executives from almost every publicly traded hospice company raised this issue in earnings calls and presentations throughout the year. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

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Hospice News

JANUARY 31, 2024

The Texas-based home health and hospice company VitalCaring Group was built largely through acquisitions, and the company expects to step up that strategy in 2024 with an emphasis on hospice. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)] implements that. That keeps me up at night.

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Hospice News

JULY 19, 2022

Control of these assets also allows payer organizations to better manage the financial risks that come with the value-based payment models that many expect will overtake traditional Medicare in coming years. hospice company by market share and the leader of a growing for-profit provider based in the Midwest.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 9, 2024

Are there future plans for similar joint ventures, and will hospice or palliative care be a part of those strategic plans? Thinking about legacy Compassus, we began as and have been a hospice company. So that’s actually the biggest part of our business. It is the right thing to do. I don’t see growth as a hurdle.

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Hospice News

DECEMBER 12, 2022

Humana’s two Kindred at Home transactions added notches to the company’s belt as it expands its value-based care portfolio as both a provider and payer. The divestiture fits into Humana’s stated goal of raising its enterprise value by $1 billion , while building out its health care services and Medicare Advantage business.

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Hospice News

APRIL 1, 2024

Central District Court of California with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit health care fraud, health care fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering for their roles in an alleged scheme to submit false Medicare claims. Justice Department indicated in a statement.

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Hospice News

AUGUST 28, 2024

A federal court has sentenced Dr. John Thropay, a former medical director for several hospice companies, to 37 months in prison for his involvement in a $2.8 million hospice fraud scheme. Among the companies for which Thropay worked was Blue Sky Hospice, located in Van Nuys, California.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 3, 2024

Some of these providers have secured licenses, as well as Medicare certification and, sometimes, accreditation, multiple hospice executives told Hospice News on background. They then proceed to enroll a small number of patients, for whom they sometimes never bill Medicare.

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Hospice News

JUNE 16, 2022

You have to have that reverse engineer look at [hospice billing] in the financial model.”. Compared to other health care settings, hospices lack diversity in revenue streams such as private insurers and Medicaid funding. Through the hospice benefit, Medicare covers nearly 90% of a provider’s patient care revenue.

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Hospice News

MARCH 8, 2024

The hospice market in Las Vegas has vastly changed with a swell of new providers within the last decade, according to Belloumini. Las Vegas was much different in terms of much lower hospice provider numbers, now in the present day we have something between 150 to 180 hospice companies,” Belluomini told Hospice News.

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 19, 2022

There are a lot of home health and hospice companies where the idea is just to get bigger and put more dots on the map. Those are all things that we have to consider, whenever we’re looking at taking a look at somebody we want to fold into the Enhabit team. What kinds of M&A targets are most appealing?

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Hospice News

OCTOBER 4, 2024

When I took the reins over the business, I had always wanted to get into hospice care from personal experiences. We know people who have gone through hospice care. So in 2019 I launched a hospice company, which became Seva Hospice. It’s turned me into a huge advocate for hospice.

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NHPCO

JANUARY 19, 2023

The recent entry of large numbers of newly created hospice organizations in several states has heightened long-standing concerns among hospice leaders (as shared with CMS in November 2022) about the adequacy of Medicare certification, accreditation, and enforcement processes.

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