Waltz Comments on Extension of Moratoria on New Home Health Agencies in Six States

Partner Judith Waltz is quoted in a BNA Health Care Policy Report article, “New Home Health Agencies in Six States? Medicare Still Says No,” about a decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to extend by six months a temporary moratorium on new home health agencies in six states.

Waltz said questions have been raised as to the effectiveness of blocking Medicare or Medicaid enrollment for an entire provider category, citing a ban on the enrollment of new clinical laboratories in California for several years, which industry stakeholders said had had an adverse impact on access to genetic testing for California patients.

“Moratoria also skew the market for existing providers who want to sell their entities as ongoing operations, since prospective providers can only get an enrollment with a continuing entity,” she said. Existing providers can also sell their practice for a premium under a moratorium, she added.

Metrics also are lacking for the moratoria, Waltz said, making it difficult to assess whether the program has been a success. “It’s impossible to tell if the moratoria really work because they are based on prevention and avoidance rather than recovery, so in essence it would require proving a negative to estimate the effectiveness,” she said.