Nevada is proposing a six-month moratorium on new licenses for hospice and home-health providers as well as a pause of new enrollments into the state’s Medicaid program while the authorities probe possible fraud, officials announced Friday.
It wasn’t clear if the moratorium would also apply to new patients.
The Nevada Health Authority outlined the proposal, which requires federal approval, in a press release. The authority did not respond to a message seeking clarification.
“Fraud in hospice and home-health services has garnered recent national attention with stories of high-dollar crimes from illegal Medicaid and Medicare billing activities and fake operations,” the release said.
The authority didn’t expand on what news stories it was referring to.
The stolen dollars can be hard to recover before the state can act, the release said. “This demonstrates the urgent need for decisive action to protect the front door to the Medicaid program and prevent further losses of taxpayer dollars.”
Nevada is planning the pauses to last at least half a year.
“Over the next six months, state staff will be conducting extensive onsite reviews of all Medicaid-enrolled hospice and home-health providers to identify any instances of potential Medicaid billing and payment fraud that require immediate attention and action,” the release said. “This includes working closely with the Office of the Nevada Attorney General, federal partners, and law enforcement to initiate criminal investigations.”
Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office shared the same release in which he endorsed the proposal.
“Protecting taxpayer dollars and preserving access to quality healthcare services for Nevadans requires us to confront fraud head-on,” he said. “Bad actors who use hospice and home-health programs as vehicles to steal public funds are undermining care for those who need it the most.”
Added Lombardo: “I support the Nevada Health Authority’s decisive action to identify fraudulent providers, strengthen accountability, and work alongside law enforcement to pursue criminal prosecutions wherever wrongdoing is found. Nevada will not tolerate fraud, waste, or abuse in our public programs.”
In a partnership with Vice President JD Vance’s “Anti-Fraud Task Force,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services late last month announced its own six-month moratorium on new hospice and home-health providers.
Federal efforts have included pausing payments to hundreds of hospice providers suspected of engaging in fraud, officials said.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services identified half-a-dozen states, including Nevada, as having an “elevated fraud risk.”
And on April 30, the Department of Justice announced a “West Coast Strike Force” that will target fraudulent healthcare-related schemes in Nevada, Arizona and Northern California.
Nevada’s First Assistant U.S. Attorney Sigal Chattah said in a press release that her office was coordinating with the FBI, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Drug Enforcement Administration and other partners to combat the purported fraud.
“With each indictment and conviction, we are achieving justice for victims who were taken advantage of by these fraudsters,” she said.
Contact Ricardo Torres-Cortez at rtorres@reviewjournal.com.
