On April 28, 2015, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to address the rising Medicare appeals claims backlog. At the hearing, Nancy Griswold, Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA), blamed the backlog on a lack of funding and an unprecedented…
On March 18, 2015, Wachler & Associates attorneys, Andrew Wachler and Jessica Forster, highlighted contradictory guidance released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) relating to home health agencies (“HHAs”) face-to-face encounter documentation. When the calendar year (“CY”) 2015 Home Health Final Rule (“Final Rule”) went into effect…
In response to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) titled Limited Compliance with Medicare’s Home Health Face-to-Face Documentation Requirements, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has decided to audit all home health agencies (“HHAs”) in the country.…
On January 29, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced that it will consider shortening the meaningful use reporting period for electronic health record (“EHR”) systems. Specifically, CMS stated that it intends to reduce the 2015 reporting period from 12 months to 90 days. Under the meaningful…
The Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 extended the process for exceptions to Medicare’s outpatient therapy caps through March 2015. Exceptions to Medicare’s outpatient therapy caps are allowed for medically necessary and reasonably therapy services. However, claims above $3,700 for physical therapy and speech language pathology services combined, and…
On January 26, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), for the first time ever, announced a timeline and corresponding goals to shift the basis of Medicare reimbursement away from the quantity of care provided towards the quality furnished to beneficiaries. With the passage of the Patient…
On December 30, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that they had awarded the Region 5 Recovery Audit Contract (RAC) to Connolly, LLC. CMS contracts with RACs to identify and correct improper payments. Connolly, which has been the RAC for Region C, was awarded the Region…
In November 2014, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives circulated a “discussion draft,” which proposed significant reforms to the process by which Medicare reimburses hospitals for short stays. Perhaps most notably, the GOP proposal would eliminate the two-midnight rule. Since its enactment, the two-midnight rule has remained controversial among…
On December 3, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a final rule that broadens its authority to deny providers or suppliers from enrolling in Medicare and revoke providers already participating. The final rule, which is scheduled to go into effect on February 3, 2015, permits CMS…
On December 1, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) launched a three-year pilot program (“the program”) in an effort to curb improper Medicare payments to ambulances providers. Under the program, CMS requires prior authorization for repetitive, scheduled, non-emergent ambulance transport claims billed using the following HCPCS codes:…