CMS has extended the moratorium on certifying new agencies to cover entire states. New agencies will not be allowed to become certified in:
- Florida
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Texas
Previously, only certain counties in each of these states had moratoriums on new providers enrolling in Medicare and Medicaid. Now, however, these entire states are under the moratorium.
The moratorium began in 2014 as a pilot to see if fraud and abuse would be abated and controlled. In some circumstances the pilot worked. However, crafty providers circumvented the moratorium by opening agencies outside of the restricted counties and then servicing patients within the counties under the moratorium. CMS has stated that some agencies operated their licensed location more than 300 miles away from the service address of the patient in the original county under moratorium.
We will keep you updated on any changes.