Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it's official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you're on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Home Health Compliance with Medicare Requirements

The Medicare home health benefit covers intermittent skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech-language pathology services, continued occupational services, medical social worker services, and home health aide services. For CY 2014, Medicare paid home health agencies (HHAs) about $18 billion for home health services. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services's Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) program determined that the 2014 improper payment error rate for home health claims was 51.4 percent, or about $9.4 billion. Recent OIG reports have similarly disclosed high error rates at individual HHAs. Improper payments identified in these OIG reports consisted primarily of beneficiaries who were not homebound or who did not require skilled services. We will review compliance with various aspects of the home health prospective payment system and include medical review of the documentation required in support of the claims paid by Medicare. We will determine whether home health claims were paid in accordance with Federal requirements.

Announced or Revised Agency Title Component Report Number(s) Expected Issue Date (FY)
Completed (partial) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Home Health Compliance with Medicare Requirements Office of Audit Services A-06-16-05005;
A-02-17-01025;
A-02-16-01001;
A-05-16-00057;
A-05-16-00055;
A-01-16-00500;
A-07-16-05092;
A-07-16-05093;
A-05-17-00022;
A-02-17-01022;
A-03-17-00004;
A-04-16-06195;
A-03-17-00009;
A-02-19-01013;
W-00-19-35712;
W-00-16-35712;
W-00-16-35501;
W-00-17-35712;
various reviews
2024