A home care agency in Columbus, Ohio, was fined $43,765 for allegedly violating the Civil Monetary Penalties Law by employing an excluded individual, according to the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.
 
Caring 4 You Home Care Services reportedly employed a home health aide who was excluded from participating in any Federal health care program, and that the aide provided items or services that were billed to Federal health care programs.
 
Use these tips for checking the exclusions list from Home Health Line (HHL 5/31/2021):
 
Start checking early — It’s never too early to check the exclusion list. Save yourself time and ensure you don’t forget by checking as soon as you receive an application.
  • Make honesty a policy — The fact is, an employee can be added to the list without your agency’s knowledge, and your agency will be responsible. Make it clear to staff when you hire them that it’s their personal responsibility to inform the agency if they are ever placed on the exclusion list.
  • Check the list again — While honesty is a good policy, sometimes it’s dishonesty that got the employee on the list in the first place. This is why agencies should periodically check the exclusion list to ensure none of their staff members are on it. If an employee does something at agency A that gets him or her put on the list, agency B will still be liable for employing a person on the excluded list, even if the employee wasn’t on there when they were hired.