A federal judge ruled Nov. 3 against the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) in its lawsuit battling the face-to-face requirement.
 
U.S District Judge Christopher R. Cooper determined that the face-to-face requirement Congress enacted "was ambiguous and did not foreclose the interpretation of the word 'document' that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) established in its regulations," a NAHC article states.
 
NAHC’s goal was to seek recoupment for past denials and stop future reviews checking compliance with the narrative requirement.
 
CMS previously eliminated the narrative requirement for episodes beginning Jan. 1, 2015, or later.
 
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