The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has determined that it should extend for an additional six months its current moratoria on the Medicare, Medicaid, and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollment of new home health agencies (HHAs) and Part B nonemergency ground ambulance suppliers in selected states. Under the latest notice, the moratoria on new HHAs and branch locations applies to Florida, Illinois, Michigan, and Texas, and the non-emergency ambulance enrollment moratorium applies to New Jersey and Pennsylvania (the previous ambulance supplier enrollment moratorium in Texas was lifted last year as a result of Hurricane Harvey), applicable beginning July 20, 2018. In extending the moratoria, CMS states that the Office of Inspector General concurs that "a significant potential for fraud, waste, and abuse continues to exist regarding those provider and supplier types in these geographic areas." Furthermore, CMS believes that the moratoria are needed to enable the agency to "continue with administrative actions to combat fraud and abuse, such as payment suspensions and revocations of provider/supplier numbers." Since the initial moratoria were imposed in 2013, denied applications from more than 1204 HHAs and 26 ambulance companies in the affected geographic areas.
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