On September 10, 2010, CMS released draft form CMS-10343, which will be used by state Medicaid plans to show that they have contracted with a RAC auditor. The forms are used in connection with preparation for Medicaid RAC expansion and include criteria related to payments to the Medicaid RAC and…
Articles Posted in Audit
RACs for Regions D and C Add Medical Necessity Reviews to Approved Issues Lists
The RACs for Region D and Region C added medical necessity reviews to their lists of approved RAC audit issues. HealthDataInsights (HDI), the RAC for Region D, added ten medical necessity reviews to its list of approved issues, while Connolly Healthcare (Connolly), the RAC for Region C, posted 18 medical…
RACs Will Begin Medical Necessity Reviews
The American Hospital Association (AHA) reported on August 10 that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have approved “medical necessity review” audits for the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program. According to the AHA, the approved audits include 18 types of inpatient hospital claims and one type of durable…
District Court Ruling – Medicare Contractors Can Reopen Claims Regardless of “Good Cause”
On July 28 the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of California granted the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) motion for summary judgment in the case, Palomar Medical Center v. Sebelius. The case, filed on May 26, 2010, challenged a magistrate judge’s recommendation that HHS is correct…
The OIG’s Report on Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Claims Could Lead to RAC Reviews
The Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) released a report of its review of inpatient rehabilitation facilities’ transmission of patient assessment instruments for 2006 and 2007. Inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) are required to submit patient assessment instruments for each stay to the…
RACs Post New Issues
Three Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) posted new issues. The RAC for Region A, DCS Healthcare, posted 23 new approved issues. One new issue applies to DME supplier claims and applies to providers in all Region A states. Connolly Healthcare, the RAC for Region C, posted 3 new issues for non-medical…
CMS Reports that Providers Are Winning a Large Percentage of Appeals
In its report, “The Medicare RAC Program: Update to the evaluation of the three-year demonstration,” the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reveals that providers have been winning more appeals since its last report in January 2009. The report first noted that the number of reported claims for appeal…
Government Accountability Office (GAO) Recommends Post-Payment Reviews to Focus on Home Health and Durable Medical Equipment
The Director of Health Care for the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Kathleen M. King, recently testified before the Subcommittees on Health and Oversight, Committee on Ways and Means, House of Representatives. An important component of her testimony included a recommendation that Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) should focus their post-payment review…
The RAC for Region D Adds New Issues
The RAC for Region D, HealthDataInsights, added two new RAC issues for Part B claims review to its CMS-approved list. The new issues are co-surgery not billed with modifier 62 and global days. The issues apply to providers in all Region D states. For more information on RAC approved issues…
RACs Post New Issues for All Four Regions
Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) recently posted new issues approved for review: The RAC for Region A, DCS Healthcare, added three RAC issues for non-medical necessity claims for providers in the District of Columbia, Maine, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont. CGI, the RAC for…