The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) regularly performs risk and priority analyses of the various HHS programs and identifies areas of focus on a monthly basis. Amongst the items released in June, OIG has included: Nationwide Audits of Medicare Part C High-Risk Diagnosis…
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released the Semiannual Report to Congress for the 6-month period ending from October 1, 2022, to March 21, 2023. The report can provide insight regarding OIG’s current focus and enforcement priorities. Currently, OIG appears…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it is planning to launch a new iteration of PECOS in Summer 2023. Dubbed “PECOS 2.0”, the new provider system aims to make the Medicare enrollment and revalidation processes faster and more efficient. According to CMS, PECOS 2.0 will…
Under the Medicare Part C or Medicare Advantage (MA) program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contract with Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs), typically private insurance companies, that administer MA health plans to Medicare beneficiaries as an alternative to traditional Medicare. Enrollment in MA plan has steadily grown in…
Under the Medicare Advantage (MA) program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) makes monthly payments to Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs), typically private insurance companies, according to a system of risk adjustment that depends on the health status of each enrollee. Accordingly, MAOs are paid more for providing benefits…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a proposed rule that would require disclosure of private equity (PE) or real estate investment trusts (REITs) ownership, managerial, and other disclosable information for Medicare skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). The proposed rule also includes recommendations for comparable requirements for Medicaid…
As part of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is required to establish the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program (Negotiation Program) to negotiate maximum fair prices (MFPs) for certain high expenditure, single source drugs and biologicals. In accordance with the IRA’s…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced updates to the voluntary self-referral disclosure protocol (SRDP), including revisions to streamline SRDP submissions. The SRDP process allows providers and suppliers to report certain violations under the Physician Self-Referral Law, commonly known as the Stark Law, by submitting information to…
Under the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), a new Medicare provider type, the rural emergency hospital (REH), has been created with the goal of preserving access to outpatient hospital services in rural communities. Rural providers already face numerous financial and operational challenges, and the high number of recent closures of rural…
In January 2023, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule implementing policies for the Medicare Advantage (MA) Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) program. The RADV program is CMS’s primary audit and oversight tool of MA…