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In a bi-partisan letter to Amedisys Inc., Gentiva Health Services Inc., LHC Group Inc. and Almost Family, lawmakers said that when when Medicare changed its payment rules to provide additional reimbursement to patients when they had 6, 14 and 20 therapy visits, "the home health industry apparently changed their utilization patterns as a result of these payment policy changes."
The Wall Street Journal recently analyzed that home healthcare agencies "intentionally increased utilization for the purpose of triggering higher reimbursements."
LHC Group released a statement that it would comply with the senators' request. Representatives for Amedisys, Gentiva and Almost Family could not be immediately reached for comment on the probe.
