The Health and Human Services Department (HHS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) recovered a record $4.2 billion from healthcare fraud investigations last year, according to their jointly issued Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2012. DOJ and HHS reported that it deposited the…
Senators Charles Schumer (D- NY) and Sherrod Brown (D – OH) are co-sponsors of the “Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act of 2013 bill that would count observation stays toward the three-day minimum required for Medicare to cover the costs of follow up care after a serious hospitalization. In recent…
This Thursday, February 21, 2013, Wachler & Associate’s Founder, Andrew Wachler, will present Medicare Appeals & Reimbursement Impacted by New OIG Report for the RAC University’s Live Webcast. Recently, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released a report entitled Improvements are Needed at the Amdministrative Law Judge Level of Appeal.…
Wachler & Associates partner, Amy K. Fehn, was recently quoted in Home Health Line regarding an agency’s liability for a business associate’s HIPAA violations. She explains that even though business associates are separately liable for HIPAA violations, an agency will also be liable for the business associate’s noncompliance. An agency…
On January 30, 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a proposed rule to provide women with coverage for recommended preventative care, including contraceptives, without charging the beneficiary a co-pay or deductible. A prior proposed rule regarding contraceptive coverage was issued in March 2012, followed by a…
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued a letter to health care providers to ensure that they are aware of their ability under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule to take action, consistent with their ethical standards or other legal obligations, to disclose…
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which became law on January 3, 2013, and is more widely known for addressing the fiscal cliff, also included a less publicized provision which changes the lookback period in the “Provider Without Fault” provisions of the Social Security Act from three years to…
According to the latest figures released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) corrected a total of $2.4 billion in improper payments in fiscal year (FY) 2012, of which $2.29 billion was attributable to overpayments collected and $109.4 million was from underpayments returned. The…
Recently, CGI Federal, the RAC for Region B, added two new home health issues to its CMS-approved issues list. In the past, RACs have primarily focused their attention on hospitals due to the high bounty they receive for correcting improper claims. However, as displayed in the 2011 RAC statement of…
On November 8, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final rule updating the home health prospective payment system for calendar year 2013. In particular, the final rule provides CMS with new options for surveying and sanctioning home health agencies (HHAs). According to the final rule,…