On Thursday, in a bipartisan effort, two senators unveiled a proposed bill that attempts to clarify the infamous two-midnight rule. Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey and Senator Deb Fischer, a Republican from Nebraska are co-sponsors of the bill. Titled as Two-Midnight Rule Coordination and Improvement Act of…
On December 18, 2013, Congress enacted legislation extending the Medicare therapy cap until March 31, 2014. The 2014 outpatient therapy cap limits are $1,920 for physical therapy and speech-language pathology services combined, and $1,920 for occupational therapy services. In order to qualify for an exception to the therapy cap limits…
Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that, effective February 22, Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) may no longer send additional documentation requests (ADRs) to providers for post-payment audits. In addition, February 28 is the last day a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) may send prepayment ADRs for the…
This morning, Andrew Wachler, managing partner of Wachler & Associates, appeared on RACmonitor’s special coverage of the ALJ Appellant Forum taking place today in Washington. Mr. Wachler provided some context for the occasioning of this forum. “When you really look at the event,” Andrew Wachler said, “it starts back in…
Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it has decided to extend the Inpatient Hospital Prepayment “Probe and Educate” reviews. The probe reviews, which were previously extended to March 31, 2014, have now been extended for dates of admission through September 30, 2014. During the probe…
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently released a study detailing problems associated with overpayments to clinicians who provide Medicare Part B services. The study specifically focused on what the OIG referred to as “high cumulative payment” clinicians, who are clinicians receiving total annual payments of more than $3…
On Wednesday, February 12, at 10:00 am EST, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) will hold a Medicare Appellant Forum in the Cohen Auditorium of the Wilbur J. Cohen building at 330 Independence Ave. SW, Washington DC, 20024. The purpose of…
On November 12, 2013, CMS held a third open door forum (ODF) discussing the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS)/Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Final Rule (CMS-1599-F). As of November 4, 2013, the patient status probe review period that was previously applicable through December 31, 2013 has been…
Tomorrow from 1:00-2:00 pm Eastern Time, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will hold a third open door forum (ODF) to discuss the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS)/Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Final Rule (CMS-1599-F). On August 2, 2013, CMS issued the FY 2014 IPPS/LTCH…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a report addressing increased Medicare spending on polysomnography services. The OIG initiated this study in response to growing concerns of Medicare prescriber fraud. A polysomnography is a type of sleep study that diagnoses sleep…