In 2016, an estimated $41.1 billion in improper Medicare fee-for-services payments were made to providers. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) believes that provider education plays an important role in ensuring payments are made properly; CMS has delegated authority for provider education to the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs). In a recent report, the Government … Continue Reading
The GAO recently reported that fewer than 1% of Medicare and Department of Defense (DOD) beneficiaries and 12% of Veteran’s Administration (VA) beneficiaries utilized telehealth and remote patient monitoring services, even though patient and provider associations believe these services may improve or maintain quality of care. These associations cited payment and coverage restrictions as barriers, … Continue Reading
The GAO has had ongoing concerns about the integrity of the Medicaid program due to its size, diversity, and recent rapid growth as a result of the Affordable Care Act. It is the second largest health insurance program in the U.S. based on expenditures ($576 billion combined federal and state spending projected for 2016). At the … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is out with the latest installment of its “High-Risk Series,” which identifies federal programs “that are especially vulnerable to waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement, or that need transformative change.” Once again, GAO flags Medicare and Medicaid as high-risk programs. With regard to Medicare, GAO notes that while Congress, HHS, and … Continue Reading
CMS has developed a variety of Medicare value-based payment models that tie payments to quality and efficiency metrics, and the importance of such models to physicians will increase under the new Quality Payment Program. The Government Accountability Office cautions, however, that small and rural physician practices face a number of unique challenges when participating in … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has reviewed the Medicare Five-Star Quality Rating System for nursing homes and identified several factors that may prevent consumers from using the website “as an easy way to understand nursing home quality and identify high- and low- performing homes.” In particular, GAO concluded: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ … Continue Reading
The number of Medicare beneficiaries who received durable medical equipment (DME) items generally fell after Round 2 of competitive bidding program (CBP) and the national mail-order program for diabetes testing supplies were implemented July 1, 2013, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report issued this fall. Specifically, from 2012 to 2014, the number of … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report highlighting concerns with the public accessibility and reliability of skilled nursing facility (SNF) expenditure data collected by CMS. While CMS has posted raw SNF cost report data in accordance with a statutory mandate, the GAO believes the data’s format, volume, and organization makes it difficult for … Continue Reading
In response to concerns about potential future shortages of direct-care workers to provide hands-on long-term services and supports (LTSS), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report examining federal and state data available on the paid direct-care workforce (e.g., home health aides, psychiatric aides, nursing assistants, and personal care aides). While a variety of … Continue Reading
In light of recent health information data breaches, the Government Accountability Office has issued a report examining whether HHS security and privacy guidance for electronic health records (EHRs) are consistent with federal cybersecurity guidance, and the extent to which HHS oversees compliance with HHS information security and privacy requirements. The GAO identified shortcomings in HHS … Continue Reading
The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued several reports on various Medicare Part B drug reimbursement issues. In a report entitled “Medicare Part B: Data on Coupon Discounts Needed to Evaluate Methodology for Setting Drug Payment Rates,” the GAO assessed the impact of manufacturer coupon programs on … Continue Reading
A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, “Medicare Part B: CMS Should Take Additional Steps to Verify Accuracy of Data Used to Set Payment Rates for Drugs,” questions the reliability of pricing for Medicare Part B drugs reimbursed based on average sales price (ASP). The GAO observes that while CMS performs various electronic checks of … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently examined the extent to which federal government payments to hospitals for uncompensated care aligned with hospital costs. This federal support, which totaled nearly $50 billion annually in FYs 2013 and 2014, mainly came in the form of Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals (about $14 million in Medicare payments … Continue Reading
The Medicare appeals process has not been able to keep up with an explosion in the number of volume, particularly at the administrative law judge (ALJ) level (Level 3), resulting in significant backlogs and widespread failure to meet statutory deadlines, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report. Specifically, the GAO determined that Medicare … Continue Reading
The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) have recently examined a number of Medicare and Medicaid provider screening and related program integrity issues. The OIG reports include the following:… Continue Reading
Medicare cuts comprised 58% of all sequestration savings in fiscal year (FY) 2014 — $11.3 billion out of $19.4 billion in total sequestration funds — according to a new GAO report. Under current sequestration law, across-the-board cuts to Medicare provider and plan payments are capped at 2%, while other types of federal spending are subject … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report focusing on the roadblocks hospitals face in implementing evidence-based patient safety practices, such as the use of antiseptics to reduce Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infection or administration of anti-clotting medications to higher-risk patients to prevent venous thromboembolism. Based on a review of selected hospitals, the OIG found … Continue Reading
According to the GAO, 505 hospitals received Medicaid payment surpluses (payments that exceeded the costs of providing services) totaling about $2.7 billion in 2012, resulting in part from lump-sum supplemental payments hospitals above regular payments for individual services. The GAO has conducted a review of states’ basis for distributing these payments and how hospitals use … Continue Reading
The GAO has reviewed HHS management of the 72 health care workforce programs administered by HHS and its agencies. The GAO concludes that HHS “lacks comprehensive planning and oversight to ensure that its many workforce efforts address identified national needs.” The GAO recommends that HHS establish a comprehensive and coordinated workplace development program planning approach … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report examining trends in “vertical consolidation” — hospital acquisition of physician practices or hiring of physicians as salaried employees – and the impact on Medicare spending. According to the GAO, the number of vertically consolidated hospitals increased from about 1,400 to 1,700 from 2007 through 2013, while … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report, “Nursing Home Quality: CMS Should Continue to Improve Data and Oversight,” examining changes in reported nursing home quality and related CMS oversight activities. According to the GAO, three nursing home data sets—standard survey deficiencies, reported staffing levels, and clinical quality measures—indicate potential improvement in nursing home … Continue Reading
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report describing trends in Medicare Part B spending and utilization for “new” drugs and biologicals (approved by the FDA from 2006 through 2013). The GAO’s analysis is based on 250 such drugs identified by the FDA, 83 of which had either an associated Medicare billing code or … Continue Reading
According to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, bonuses and penalties triggered by the Medicare Hospital Value-based Purchasing (HVBP) program have had no apparent impact on quality measure performance trends to date. The HVBP program, which was established by the Affordable Care Act, adjusts inpatient hospital payments based on individual hospital performance on designated … Continue Reading
On September 30, 2015, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report entitled “Medicare: Considerations for Expansion of the Appropriate Use Criteria Program.” In addition to describing CMS’s plans for implementing the imaging Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) program, the GAO provides examples of non-imaging services deemed “questionable- or low-value” by researchers and for which provider-led … Continue Reading
