Update on Medicare Demand Letters Issued for Incarcerated Beneficiaries

In our recent blog post, CMS Issues Demand Letters to Providers and Suppliers with Claims for Services Provided to Allegedly Incarcerated Beneficiaries, we discussed the large number of demand letters CMS released regarding Medicare overpayments for incarcerated beneficiaries. Since that blog post was written, CMS has issued an update, stating that the information connected to these incarceration periods was incomplete in some cases.

CMS is currently reviewing this information and will take action to improve the procedures used to detect incarceration periods. Furthermore, CMS is trying to identify the recent overpayment demand letters that were incomplete and make corrections to those respective demand letters. CMS announced that it will continue to inform the public about this issue and the timelines for to fix their error. Such announcements can be found on the All-Fee-For-Service-Providers page on the CMS website.

In lieu of this new information, providers should not contact their CMS Regional Offices, as CMS is currently working to resolve this issue. However, we do still encourage providers to investigate this possibility of reimbursement and to contact us if they need assistance reviewing current state laws to determine whether reimbursement may be a possibility. Wachler & Associates will continue to keep you updated on this topic and other important healthcare law issues on the Wachler & Associates Blog.