Bill Dombi Covers Potential Hospice Regulations in Law360 Article

Bill Dombi, senior counsel in AGG’s Healthcare practice and a member of the Post-Acute & Long-Term Care industry team, published an article in Law360 discussing what the future may hold for hospice providers following increased attention from the administration, Congress, and federal oversight authorities.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently announced its intention to “identify trends, patterns, and key comparisons that indicate potential vulnerabilities related to new Medicare hospice provider enrollments,” and expects to issue its findings in 2026.

The findings will likely bring expanded oversight and new regulatory requirements to the space, although any resulting action plans should come from a few core principles, Bill wrote. They include applying existing regulatory requirements, preventing entry of new hospices that pose red flags, and focusing on oversight action on hospices that present the threat of noncompliance.

The OIG audit follows efforts by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and Congress to address concerns regarding the integrity of hospice care, and Bill explained why the recommendations that are expected to come in 2026 should consider those past efforts.

While current hospice providers that are seeking certification as a Medicare participating hospice must beware of changes from the audit, overall, Bill suggested, the oversight will be for the better.

“The hospice community is fully supportive of well-targeted, comprehensive actions that stop the extremely concerning surge of new hospices in certain areas and is fully prepared to assist the OIG in its new audit,” Bill wrote.

To read the full article, please click here (subscription required).