Two recent settlements illustrate some of the compliance challenges facing clinical laboratories that perform urine drug testing (UDT). Both settlements involve a clinical laboratory resolving allegations that the lab violated the False Claims Act (FCA). In the first case, the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that the lab performed and…
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently proposed to repeal two rules implemented under the Trump Administration to moderate the power of the agency. The rules HHS seeks to repeal are the Good Guidance Rule and the Civil Enforcement Rule. Public comments on the proposal are due by…
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) included several new items in its work plan update in October 2021. The OIG work plan outlines the projects that OIG plans to implement over the foreseeable future. Such projects typically include OIG audits and evaluations. Below…
Your practice, agency, or business has been audited by Medicare and now Medicare has stopped paying your claims or is claiming that you owe significant funds that must be repaid to Medicaid. These difficult circumstances can lead to many questions. Who performed the audit? Why are they denying claims or…
In a recent court filing, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) reported that it has cleared approximately 79% of the Medicare appeals backlog. HHS is currently under court order to clear a backlog of hundreds of thousands of Medicare claims appeals pending before the Office of Medicare Hearings…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced a proposal to repeal the Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT) rule that has been delayed several times. The latest news in the MCIT saga comes from a CMS announcement expressing concerns with the final rule, specifically that it will…
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced the annual expansion of the Settlement Conference Facilitation (SCF) program. SCF is an alternate dispute resolution mechanism used to resolve Medicare claims appeals. However, because SCF is meant to help reduce the appeal backlog, only appeals filed before a certain…
On September 10, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it would make $25.5 billion in new funding available for healthcare providers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This funding includes allocations of $8.5 billion in funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) for providers who…
As part of the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed to significantly expand its authority to deny or revoke a provider’s or supplier’s Medicare billing privileges. First, CMS proposed to modify the conditions that it considers when determining whether…
Significant changes could be coming to dentistry if dental benefits are added to Medicare. A proposal, currently before Congress as part of a large budget bill, would do just that. If this proposal becomes law and Medicare begins to cover dental benefits, it would likely have major implications on the…