Reports by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Association of Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) both revealed that more than 20% of Home Health Agencies nationally are submitting erroneous Medicare cost report data. These cost reports have been used to influence payment decisions for all HHAs.
This is a critical issue for the industry as the cost report is the only source of cost, charge, profit, and visit information that government agencies have available for the home health industry. In addition, the cost report not only influences payment rates, it can be a source of valuable industry benchmarking data when properly prepared.
The NAHC and the Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Association (HHFMA) have launched a campaign and established a task force that will identify areas in the cost reporting process that need improvement and recommend changes that will help the industry in preparing accurate cost reports.
