CMS finalizes rule to end dues skimming of in-home caregivers
Last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule to no longer allow states to make payments to third parties on behalf of in-home care providers. Under Medicaid, a federal program administered by the states and funded by state and federal tax dollars, elderly or disabled individuals meeting eligibility requirements can receive support at home from a caregiver to assist them with aspects of daily living , a broad range of everyday activities including “eating, bathing, dressing, grooming, and mobility.” These caregivers can either be paid directly from the state or through a company under which they are contracted to provide care. Since 1978, CMS has maintained a rule that, absent a statutory exemption, states must make payments directly to providers. In the 1990s, some states began diverting home caregivers’ wages to third parties. In 2014, CMS under the Obama administration’s Department of Health and Human Services, in attemp...