Wachler & Associates Health Law Blog

Published on: December 18, 2013

CMS to Hold a Fourth Open Door Forum on the FY 2014 IPPS Final Rule

On Thursday, December 19, 2013, from 1:00-2:00 pm Eastern Time, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will hold a Special Open Door Forum (ODF) to answer questions from hospitals, practitioners, and other interested parties about the new policies released on August 2, 2013 as part of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS)/Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Final Rule (CMS-1599-F) and corresponding medical review criteria.

Thursday’s ODF will be the fourth in its series of ODFs regarding physician order and certification, hospital inpatient admission and medical review criteria. The most recent ODF discussed the “probe and educate” reviews to be conducted by the MACs. If you missed any of the prior ODFs, a transcript of each ODF can be found on CMS’ website.

To access the ODF, the participant dial-in number is 1-866-501-5502, and the conference ID number is 16505942. For more information, please visit the ODF website. If you have any questions regarding the final rule or questions about the Medicare appeals process, please contact an experienced healthcare attorney at Wachler & Associates at 248-544-0888 or wapc@wachler.com.

Published on: December 13, 2013

CMS Advisory Opinion Approves Proposed Hospital Expansion under Stark Law’s Whole Hospital Exception

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently released a favorable advisory opinion, CMS AO-2013-03, that interprets the “whole hospital” exception to the physician self-referral prohibition commonly known as the Stark Law. CMS determined that the proposed arrangement, which adds a new observation unit and 14 observation beds to a physician-owned hospital, complies with the “whole hospital” exception’s restriction on facility expansions.

In general, the Stark Law prohibits the referral of Medicare patients for designated health services (“DHS”) to an entity in which the referring physician has a financial relationship. The law also prohibits the entity that furnishes DHS as a result of a prohibited referral from billing Medicare, the beneficiary, or any other entity.

The Stark Law contains several exceptions to which the self-referral prohibition does not apply, including the “whole hospital” exception under Section 1877(d)(3). The “whole hospital” exception allows referring physicians to have physician ownership or investment interests in a hospital provided that the referring physician is authorized to perform services at the hospital and the ownership or investment interest is in the hospital itself.

Published on: December 5, 2013

OIG Recommends Additional Quality Measure for Medicare Nursing Home Resident Hospitalization Rates

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

In November 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report which called for additional quality measures (QMs) of Medicare nursing home resident hospitalization rates. The application of QMs to nursing home hospitalization rates is intended to resolve identified discrepancies between hospitalization rates for Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes. In its study, the OIG found that one quarter of Medicare nursing home residents experienced hospitalization in FY 2011, which resulted in $14.3 billion in Medicare spending. Among nursing homes linked to the highest rates of resident hospitalization were:

Nursing homes located in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Oklahoma;
Nursing homes receiving fewer than four stars according to CMS’ Five-Star Quality Rating System;

Published on: November 25, 2013

CMS Releases Update on Medicare Claim Denials for Incarcerated Beneficiaries

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

On November 20, 2013, CMS released an update regarding the Medicare denials for claims submitted by providers and suppliers for beneficiaries who were allegedly incarcerated during the dates of service. The large volume of denials, which occurred during this past summer, were incorrect as CMS acknowledged that the systems that track whether a beneficiary is ineligible for Medicare services due to incarceration were incorrectly updated. Medicare providers and suppliers nationwide were impacted by this error as Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) automatically denied and in many cases recouped alleged improper claims for services provided to incarcerated beneficiaries. Although CMS acknowledged the errors in late July 2013, it is not until now that Medicare providers and suppliers have received concrete information that addresses how the errors will be fixed and how correct claims will be paid appropriately. CMS is now making strides to refund improper collections and to implement fundamental changes to its claims processing systems. Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) will be responsible for reprocessing claims denied in error. Please see our earlier blog posts regarding CMS’s efforts to recoup reimbursement for services provided to incarcerated beneficiaries here.

According to a FAQ Sheet available on CMS’s website, CMS anticipates that incorrectly denied or cancelled claims associated with allegedly incarcerated beneficiaries from June through August of 2013 will be refunded to suppliers via an automated process by the beginning of December. Medicare provider claims denied due to the incorrect information regarding incarcerated beneficiaries between June through August of 2013 will also be reprocessed by the MACs. According to the FAQ bulletin, CMS expects the reprocessing to be completed by the end of December.

Suppliers and providers should be aware that repayments “may not exactly match the original payment that was made for the claims.” Factors such as CMS business processes, outstanding payments, or changes in a beneficiary’s paid deductible amounts may be reflected in the final claim repayment amounts remunerated to the affected providers.

Published on: November 18, 2013

“Probe and Educate” Hospital Inpatient Audits Extended an Additional 3 Months

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

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 extended through March 31, 2014. CMS has issued helpful guidance on questions and answers relating to patient status reviews, selecting hospital claims for patient status reviews, and reviewing hospital claims for patient status.

These “probe and educate” reviews will be conducted on a prepayment basis to assess whether hospitals are in compliance with the admission order requirements and 2-midnight benchmark. Because these reviews will be conducted on a prepayment basis, the MACs will deny any claims not meeting these three requirements. The initial sample probe reviews will consist of 10-25 claims per hospital with dates of admission from October 1 through December 31, 2013.

MAC review of the inpatient hospital claims will provide outreach and education about the inpatient rule and will help ensure that hospitals understand and comply with the Medicare requirements. Upon completion of the 10-25 claim reviews, if the MACs do not find any issues with the particular hospital’s claim documentation then further probes will not be conducted for that hospital (unless there are significant changes in billing patterns for admissions).

Published on: November 11, 2013

Open Door Forum on Final IPPS Rule Tomorrow at 1:00

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

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 Final Rule (final rule) which finalized proposals related to patient status during short-stay hospital cases, including the new standards for inpatient admission and the medical review criteria for payment of hospital short-stay inpatient services under Medicare Part A. On September 5, 2013, CMS issued sub-regulatory guidance regarding the final rule’s requirements for hospital inpatient admission order and certification, which are conditions of payment under Medicare Part A. This sub-regulatory guidance was issued in part as a result of the significant confusion surrounding CMS’s requirements for inpatient admission orders and physician certifications of inpatient services. CMS also posted subregulatory instructions and frequently asked questions, relating to the claim selection process and preliminary review guidelines, for conducting patient status reviews of claims with dates of admission beginning in October 2013.

Questions on the two midnight provision for admission and medical review may be sent to CMS before the ODF begins via email to IPPSAdmissions@cms.hhs.gov. Questions on Part B inpatient billing and clarifications regarding physician order and certification can be sent to Section3133DSH@cms.hhs.gov.

Published on: October 31, 2013

CMS Reaches Four Settlements Under the Stark Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol in August and September

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

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 law violations by a Louisiana physician group practice. Under the SRDP, the Louisiana practice disclosed that it violated the Stark Law because two of its physician arrangements failed to satisfy the requirements of the in-office ancillary services exception to the Stark Law. The violations were settled for $13,572.

On August 20, 2013, CMS reached a settlement with a non-profit community hospital located in Minnesota which disclosed that its arrangement with a physician group practice for the rental of office space and performance of support services failed to satisfy the requirements of the applicable exception under the Stark Law. The Minnesota hospital’s violations were settled for $9,570.

Published on: October 21, 2013

OIG Report on “Questionable” Billing for Polysomnography Services May Lead to Closer Scrutiny of Sleep Laboratories

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

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 disorders such as sleep apnea. The claims submitted by sleep centers that conduct these studies have been under serious scrutiny by fraud investigators in recent years. In January 2013, American Sleep Medicine LLC, a sleep testing center operator based in Florida, agreed to pay $15.3 million to resolve allegations of false polysomnography claims submitted to Medicare, TRICARE, and the Railroad Retirement Medicare Program in violation of the False Claims Act (FCA).

According to the OIG’s report, Medicare spending for polysomnography services rose 39 percent between the years 2005 and 2011. The OIG analyzed Medicare claims from hospital outpatient departments, as well as non-hospital providers such as independent diagnostic testing facilities and physician-owned sleep laboratories, starting in 2011. The OIG found that almost $17 million in Medicare claims for polysomnography services were inappropriate, meaning the claims did not meet one or more of three requirements for Medicare reimbursement, including claims that had inappropriate diagnosis codes, were same-day duplicate claims or were submitted with an invalid NPI. In addition, the report stated that out of 6,339 providers of polysomnography services, 180 providers exhibited patterns of questionable billing. “Questionable billing” patterns included providers that billed an unusually high percentage of: (1) same-day duplicate claims, beneficiaries who had polysomnography claims from one or more other providers in 2011, (3) diagnostic polysomnography claims with a titration claim for the same beneficiary on the following day, or (4) claims in which there was no visit note from the ordering provider in the preceding year.

Published on: October 16, 2013

Proposed PRIME Act Aims at “Preventing and Detecting” Medicare and Medicaid Fraud and Abuse

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

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 payments towards the more aggressive “prevent and detect” model.

The PRIME Act would enact a range of reforms designed to proactively target improper payments, including fraud, within the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The reforms include, for example, engaging Medicare beneficiaries in identifying waste and fraud through a program called the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP). The bill also seeks to administer harsher penalties for instances of Medicare or Medicaid fraud, as well as identify theft and the sale or distribution of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiary ID numbers.

In a press release addressing the bill, Rep. Peter Roskam (R Ill.) announced,

Published on: October 7, 2013

Proposed Bill to Narrow Stark Law Exception for In-Office Ancillary Services

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

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 in-office ancillary services (“IOAS”) exception to the Stark law. The Stark law, which functions to limit physician self-referrals, contains several exceptions. The current IOAS exception to the Stark law protects advanced imaging services, anatomic pathology, radiation therapy, and physical therapy services that meet the IOAS exception’s requirements. However, the bill proposes to remove the above-listed services (advanced imaging services, anatomic pathology, radiation therapy, and physical therapy), which the bill refers to as “Specified Non-Ancillary Services,” from protection under the IOAS exception. The initiating Representatives believe that the bill will save billions of Medicare dollars.

The legislation also proposes to increase civil monetary penalties for improper claims from $15,000 to $25,000 for the above Specified Non-Ancillary Services, and increase civil monetary penalties for circumvention schemes from $100,000 to $150,000 for the above Specified Non-Ancillary Services. In addition, PIMA proposes compliance review procedures for Specified Non-Ancillary Services that may include prepayment reviews, claims audits, focused medical review, and computer algorithms designed to identify payment or billing anomalies.

If PIMA is enacted, referring physician practices that rely on Stark law’s IOAS exception to perform advanced imaging services, anatomic pathology, radiation therapy, and physical therapy services, will need legal assistance in analyzing and possibly restructuring their business arrangements in compliance with the Stark law. If you or your healthcare entity would be affected by the passage of PIMA and have any questions about PIMA or need assistance in analyzing, structuring or restructuring business arrangements to comply with PIMA, please contact our experienced healthcare attorneys via phone at 248-544-0888 or via email at wapc@wachler.com.