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 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced four settlements via the Voluntary Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (SRDP) under the federal Stark Law. CMS reached three Stark law settlements in August 2013 and on additional settlement in September 2013, totaling approximately $178,000. On August 19, 2013, CMS settled Stark…
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…
A proposed bipartisan bill, titled the Preventing and Reducing Improper Medicare and Medicaid Expenditures (PRIME) Act, is aimed at combatting waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare and Medicaid spending. If passed, the PRIME Act would continue CMS’ efforts to move away from the “pay and chase” model of combatting improper…
A proposed bill, H.R. 2914: Promoting Integrity in Medicare Act of 2013 (PIMA), was recently introduced in the House of Representatives. Representatives Jackie Speier (D-CA), Dina Titus (D-NV), and Jim McDermott (D-WA) initiated this legislation as a result of the increase in Medicare billing for in-office ancillary services through the…
On September 30, 2013, Federal Judge Margaret Seymour of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina ordered South Carolina’s Tuomey Healthcare System to pay $276.8 million for violating both Stark law and False Claims Act (FCA) provisions; however, this ordered amount was subsequently reduced by $39…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a national provider Comparative Billing Report (CBR) focused on spinal orthotics and ordering providers. This CBR was conducted in response to an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report on inappropriate Medicare payments for orthotics. The Medicare Durable Medical Equipment (DME)…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced during its September 26, 2013 Open Door Forum that, for a period of 90 days, CMS will not permit Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) to review inpatient admissions of one midnight or less that begin on or after October 1, 2013. This…
Today from 2:00-3:00 pm Eastern Time, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will hold a special follow-up Open Door Forum to discuss the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS)/Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Final Rule (CMS-1599-F) as well as the CMS guidance on physician order and…