The False Claims Act (FCA) was enacted during the Civil War to impose civil liability on anyone who knowingly acts in defrauding governmental programs. Healthcare fraud has been a leading source of FCA violations for several years, leading to $1.7 billion in settlements and judgments in the last fiscal year…
The many ways in which a provider might be removed from the Medicare program are often a source of confusion and consternation for Medicare-enrolled healthcare providers and suppliers. Sometimes a Medicare revocation or suspension may occur unexpectedly and devastate a provider’s business. Sometimes a provider will voluntarily leave the Medicare…
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 Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently announced that it is offering a new frequently asked question (FAQ) process to provide informal feedback to healthcare providers regarding an expanded set of topics. OIG already offers FAQs and responses on a number of topics,…
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…
Physician investment in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC) can implicate federal and state fraud, waste, and abuse statutes, including the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). Such investment may be permissible, but requires careful regulatory analysis and structuring of the arrangement. The AKS prohibits a person from knowingly offering, paying, soliciting, or…
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…
During the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for COVID-19 testing increased dramatically and many clinical laboratories either began operations or rapidly increased testing capacity to meet this demand. As the pandemic ends and the demand for COVID-19 testing fades, clinical labs are scaling back capacity for COVID-19 testing, pursuing other lines of…
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently released a toolkit regarding analysis of telehealth claims to assess program integrity risks. Use of telehealth services exploded during the pandemic, with Medicare beneficiaries in particular using 88 times more telehealth services in the…