Take advantage of this rare opportunity and participate in the Rule-Making-Process: Submit Comments
In today’s Fed’l Register CMS has once again given the home health industry an opportunity to submit comments about the Face-to-Face (F2F) regulation; particularly in regards to the Physician Narrative Requirement and Supporting Regulation (see below).
The industry has wasted the opportunities it has had in the past to submit comments in regards to this regulation (and others); particularly concerning the regulation as written into law and CMS’ interpretation of this regulation which has caused excessive hardship for way too many agencies. CMS is giving the industry another opportunity to submit comments as part of the Rule-Making Process to try to impact how it is implemented. Considering how many agencies are having significant, if not catastrophic issues with the extremism with which CMS interprets this regulation, you now have another opportunity to make yourselves heard to try to bring a modicum of reasonableness to this issue.
Get involved and make a difference! Don’t expect everyone else to do it. Make your comments detailed and specific and cite any and all egregious actions taken by the MACs, RACs, ZPICs, etc… regarding Face-to-Face! If it has not happened to you (which would put you in the minority), I am sure that there are others that you know that it has happened to. Talk to them and have them tell you their story, take notes and submit thorough, substantive comments. And for those of you that actually do make a concentrated effort to comment on this issue (and there needs to be 1,000s of you doing such!!!), I would also recommend that you send in a copy of your comments to both of the Senators and all the members of the House that are in the service areas your agency(s) serves.
- It’s time to quit sitting on the sidelines and take this fight to CMS!!!
- If you do not send in comments on this issue (re: CMS’ interpretation of this regulation), one of the most abusive and contentious ever, then sleep in the bed that you helped to create and DO NOT COMPLAIN about whatever CMS does to you/to the industry!!!
o And may you get whatever it is that you deserve
- Again, this industry needs to submit 1,000s (not 100s or a 1000, but 1,000s upon 1,000s) of comments on this issue and try to present it in ways that show this regulation being manipulated and twisted by CMS to create damage and closure of 1,000s of HHAs across the country (maybe liken it to the IRS targeting conservative organizations that cost Lois Lerner her job).
See today’s notice below (this notice had 2 Collections, and I’ve only presented the 1st in its entirety below):
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [
Document Identifiers: CMS–10311, CMS– 10242]
Agency Information Collection Activities: Proposed Collection; Comment Request
AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
SUMMARY: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is announcing an opportunity for the public to comment on CMS’ intention to collect information from the public. Under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (the PRA), federal agencies are required to publish notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information (including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of information) and to allow 60 days for public comment on the proposed action. Interested persons are invited to send comments regarding our burden estimates or any other aspect of this collection of information, including any of the following subjects: (1) The necessity and utility of the proposed information collection for the proper performance of the agency’s functions; (2) the accuracy of the estimated burden; (3) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (4) the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology to minimize the information collection burden.
DATES: Comments must be received by September 27, 2016.
ADDRESSES: When commenting, please reference the document identifier or OMB control number. To be assured consideration, comments and recommendations must be submitted in any one of the following ways:
- Electronically. You may send your comments electronically to http://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for ‘‘Comment or Submission’’ or ‘‘More Search Options’’ to find the information collection document(s) that are accepting comments.
- By regular mail. You may mail written comments to the following address: CMS, Office of Strategic Operations and Regulatory Affairs, Division of Regulations Development, Attention: Document Identifier/OMB Control Number lll, Room C4–26– 05, 7500 Security Boulevard, Baltimore, Maryland 21244–1850.
To obtain copies of a supporting statement and any related forms for the proposed collection(s) summarized in this notice, you may make your request using one of following:
- Access CMS’ Web site address at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PaperworkReductionActof1995.
- Email your request, including your address, phone number, OMB number, and CMS document identifier, to Paperwork@cms.hhs.gov.
- 3. Call the Reports Clearance Office at (410) 786–1326.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Reports Clearance Office at (410) 786– 1326.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Contents
This notice sets out a summary of the use and burden associated with the following information collections. More detailed information can be found in each collection’s supporting statement and associated materials (see ADDRESSES).
CMS–10311 Medicare Program/Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update for Calendar Year 2010: Physician Narrative Requirement and Supporting Regulation
CMS–10242 Documentation Requirements Concerning Emergency and Nonemergency Ambulance Transports Described in the Beneficiary Signature Regulations in 42 CFR 424.36(b)
Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501– 3520), federal agencies must obtain approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. The term ‘‘collection of information’’ is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) and includes agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of the PRA requires federal agencies to publish a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension or reinstatement of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, CMS is publishing this notice.
Information Collection
- Type of Information Collection Request: Extension of a currently approved collection; Title of Information Collection: Medicare Program/Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update for Calendar Year 2010: Physician Narrative Requirement and Supporting Regulation; Use: Section (o) of the Act (42 U.S.C. 1395 x) specifies certain requirements that a home health agency must meet to participate in the Medicare program. To qualify for Medicare coverage of home health services a Medicare beneficiary must meet each of the following requirements as stipulated in §409.42: Be confined to the home or an institution that is not a hospital, SNF, or nursing facility as defined in sections 1861(e)(1), 1819(a)(1) or 1919 of Act; be under the care of a physician as described in §409.42(b); be under a plan of care that meets the requirements specified in §409.43; the care must be furnished by or under arrangements made by a participating HHA, and the beneficiary must be in need of skilled services as described in §409.42(c). Subsection 409.42(c) of our regulations requires that the beneficiary need at least one of the following services as certified by a physician in accordance with §424.22: Intermittent skilled nursing services and the need for skilled services which meet the criteria in §409.32; Physical therapy which meets the requirements of §409.44(c), Speech- language pathology which meets the requirements of §409.44(c); or have a continuing need for occupational therapy that meets the requirements of §409.44(c), subject to the limitations described in §409.42(c)(4). On March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Pub. L., 111–148) was enacted. Section 6407(a) (amended by section 10605) of the Affordable Care Act amends the requirements for physician certification of home health services contained in Sections 1814(a)(2)(C) and 1835(a)(2)(A) by requiring that, prior to certifying a patient as eligible for Medicare’s home health benefit, the physician must document that the physician himself or herself or a permitted non-physician practitioner has had a face-to-face encounter (including through the use of tele-health services, subject to the requirements in section 1834(m) of the Act)’’, with the patient. The Affordable Care Act provision does not amend the statutory requirement that a physician must certify a patient’s eligibility for Medicare’s home health benefit, (see Sections 1814(a)(2)(C) and 1835(a)(2)(A) of the Act.
Form Number: CMS–10311 (OMB control number: 0938–1083);
Frequency: Yearly;
Affected Public: Private sector (Business or other For- profits);
Number of Respondents: 345,600; – Who are these respondents???
Total Annual Responses: 345,600; – Where are these responses coming from???
Total Annual Hours: 28,800.
(For policy questions regarding this collection contact Hillary Loeffler at 410–786–0456.)
2. Type of Information Collection Request: Extension of a currently approved collection; Title of Information Collection: Documentation Requirements Concerning Emergency and Nonemergency Ambulance Transports Described in the Beneficiary Signature Regulations in 42 CFR 424.36(b); …
Additionally, I have included the actual law as it is presented in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) for comparison’s sake, see below:
Medicare Part A or Part B pays for home health services only if a physician certifies and recertifies the content specified in paragraphs (a)(1) and (b)(2) of this section, as appropriate.
(a) Certification—(1) Content of certification. As a condition for payment of home health services under Medicare Part A or Medicare Part B, a physician must certify the patient’s eligibility for the home health benefit, as outlined in sections 1814(a)(2)(C) and 1835(a)(2)(A) of the Act, as follows in paragraphs (a)(1)(i) through (v) of this section. The patient’s medical record, as specified in paragraph (c) of this section, must support the certification of eligibility as outlined in paragraph (a)(1)(i) through (v) of this section.
(i) The individual needs or needed intermittent skilled nursing care, or physical therapy or speech-language pathology services as defined in §409.42(c) of this chapter. If a patient’s underlying condition or complication requires a registered nurse to ensure that essential non-skilled care is achieving its purpose, and necessitates a registered nurse be involved in the development, management, and evaluation of a patient’s care plan, the physician will include a brief narrative describing the clinical justification of this need. If the narrative is part of the certification form, then the narrative must be located immediately prior to the physician’s signature. If the narrative exists as an addendum to the certification form, in addition to the physician’s signature on the certification form, the physician must sign immediately following the narrative in the addendum.
(ii) Home health services are or were required because the individual is or was confined to the home, as defined in sections 1835(a) and 1814(a) of the Act, except when receiving outpatient services.
(iii) A plan for furnishing the services has been established and will be or was periodically reviewed by a physician who is a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, or podiatric medicine, and who is not precluded from performing this function under paragraph (d) of this section. (A doctor of podiatric medicine may perform only plan of treatment functions that are consistent with the functions he or she is authorized to perform under State law.)
(iv) The services will be or were furnished while the individual was under the care of a physician who is a doctor of medicine, osteopathy, or podiatric medicine.
(v) A face-to-face patient encounter, which is related to the primary reason the patient requires home health services, occurred no more than 90 days prior to the home health start of care date or within 30 days of the start of the home health care and was performed by a physician or allowed non-physician practitioner as defined in paragraph (a)(1)(v)(A) of this section. The certifying physician must also document the date of the encounter as part of the certification.
(A) The face-to-face encounter must be performed by one of the following:
(1) The certifying physician himself or herself.
(2) A physician, with privileges, who cared for the patient in an acute or post-acute care facility from which the patient was directly admitted to home health.
(3) A nurse practitioner or a clinical nurse specialist (as those terms are defined in section 1861(aa)(5) of the Act) who is working in accordance with State law and in collaboration with the certifying physician or in collaboration with an acute or post-acute care physician with privileges who cared for the patient in the acute or post-acute care facility from which the patient was directly admitted to home health.
(4) A certified nurse midwife (as defined in section 1861(gg) of the Act) as authorized by State law, under the supervision of the certifying physician or under the supervision of an acute or post-acute care physician with privileges who cared for the patient in the acute or post-acute care facility from which the patient was directly admitted to home health.
(5) A physician assistant (as defined in section 1861(aa)(5) of the Act) under the supervision of the certifying physician or under the supervision of an acute or post-acute care physician with privileges who cared for the patient in the acute or post-acute care facility from which the patient was directly admitted to home health.
(B) The face-to-face patient encounter may occur through telehealth, in compliance with section 1834(m) of the Act and subject to the list of payable Medicare telehealth services established by the applicable physician fee schedule regulation.
(2) Timing and signature. The certification of need for home health services must be obtained at the time the plan of care is established or as soon thereafter as possible and must be signed and dated by the physician who establishes the plan.
(b) Recertification—(1) Timing and signature of recertification. Recertification is required at least every 60 days when there is a need for continuous home health care after an initial 60-day episode. Recertification should occur at the time the plan of care is reviewed, and must be signed and dated by the physician who reviews the plan of care. Recertification is required at least every 60 days unless there is a—
(i) Beneficiary elected transfer; or
(ii) Discharge with goals met and/or no expectation of a return to home health care.
(2) Content and basis of recertification. The recertification statement must indicate the continuing need for services and estimate how much longer the services will be required. Need for occupational therapy may be the basis for continuing services that were initiated because the individual needed skilled nursing care or physical therapy or speech therapy. If a patient’s underlying condition or complication requires a registered nurse to ensure that essential non-skilled care is achieving its purpose, and necessitates a registered nurse be involved in the development, management, and evaluation of a patient’s care plan, the physician will include a brief narrative describing the clinical justification of this need. If the narrative is part of the recertification form, then the narrative must be located immediately prior to the physician’s signature. If the narrative exists as an addendum to the recertification form, in addition to the physician’s signature on the recertification form, the physician must sign immediately following the narrative in the addendum.
(c) Determining patient eligibility for Medicare home health services. Documentation in the certifying physician’s medical records and/or the acute/post-acute care facility’s medical records (if the patient was directly admitted to home health) shall be used as the basis for certification of home health eligibility. This documentation shall be provided upon request to the home health agency, review entities, and/or CMS. Criteria for patient eligibility are described in paragraphs (a)(1) and (b) of this section. If the documentation used as the basis for the certification of eligibility is not sufficient to demonstrate that the patient is or was eligible to receive services under the Medicare home health benefit, payment will not be rendered for home health services provided.
(d) Limitation of the performance of physician certification and plan of care functions. The need for home health services to be provided by an HHA may not be certified or recertified, and a plan of care may not be established and reviewed, by any physician who has a financial relationship as defined in §411.354 of this chapter, with that HHA, unless the physician’s relationship meets one of the exceptions in section 1877 of the Act, which sets forth general exceptions to the referral prohibition related to both ownership/investment and compensation; exceptions to the referral prohibition related to ownership or investment interests; and exceptions to the referral prohibition related to compensation arrangements.
(1) If a physician has a financial relationship as defined in §411.354 of this chapter, with an HHA, the physician may not certify or recertify need for home health services provided by that HHA, establish or review a plan of treatment for such services, or conduct the face-to-face encounter required under sections 1814(a)(2)(C) and 1835(a)(2)(A) of the Act unless the financial relationship meets one of the exceptions set forth in §411.355 through §411.357 of this chapter.
(2) A Nonphysician practitioner may not perform the face-to-face encounter required under sections 1814(a)(2)(C) and 1835(a)(2)(A) of the Act if such encounter would be prohibited under paragraph (d)(1) if the nonphysician practitioner were a physician.
[53 FR 6638, Mar. 2, 1988; 53 FR 12945, Apr. 20, 1988; 56 FR 8845, Mar. 1, 1991, as amended at 65 FR 41211, July 3, 2000; 66 FR 962, Jan. 4, 2001; 70 FR 70334, Nov. 21, 2005; 72 FR 51098, Sept. 5, 2007; 74 FR 58133, Nov. 10, 2009; 75 FR 70463, Nov. 17, 2010; 76 FR 9503, Feb. 18, 2011; 76 FR 68606, Nov. 4, 2011; 77 FR 67163, Nov. 8, 2012; 79 FR 66116, Nov. 6, 2014; 80 FR 68717, Nov. 5, 2015]
The stumbling block in this area is predominately the last sentence in 42 CFR 424.22(b)(2)(c) (I think that’s the reference): “If the documentation used as the basis for the certification of eligibility is not sufficient to demonstrate that the patient is or was eligible to receive services under the Medicare home health benefit, payment will not be rendered for home health services provided“
- This is part of what you need to contest!!!
o Specifics – what does CMS need to have documented that will clearly establish sufficiency of documentation in the certification?
- Or do they like to leave it as ambiguous as possible to be able to manipulate that ambiguity to create the chaos that they have created on this issue?
The opportunity to address this issue is here once again.
You need to take advantage of this opportunity!!!
- Or learn to live with the consequences