Recovery Audit Contractors

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CMS is hosting an October 5, 2018 “Provider Compliance Focus Group” meeting to address several Medicare fee-for-service compliance topics, including the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) and targeted probe and educate programs.  The intended audience for the meeting is physicians, non-physician practitioners, billing specialists, suppliers, and associations.  Registration is required; attendees can choose to participate by…

Citing an interest in improving its processes and eliminating unnecessary requirements, CMS is hosting July 13, 2018 “Provider Compliance Focus Group” meeting regarding Medicare fee-for-service compliance topics, including medical review, targeted probe and educate, and Recovery Audit Contractors.  CMS states that it wants “to ensure claims are paid appropriately and preserve the Medicare Trust Fund…

CMS is considering implementing a Medicare home health claims review demonstration project intended to help identify, prevent, and prosecute Medicare fraud, waste, and abuse and reduce Medicare appeals. Under this initiative, CMS would offer home health agencies (HHAs) in the demonstration area the choice of demonstrating their compliance with Medicare home health policies through 100%…

In order to improve “clinician engagement” and minimize administrative burdens, CMS has announced an 18-month pilot program to reduce medical review audits for participants in selected Advanced Alternative Payment Models (Advanced APMs), beginning January 1, 2017. Under this program, CMS will direct Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs), Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs), and the Supplemental Medical Review…

According to CMS, the Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) Recovery Auditor Program identified and corrected $2.57 billion in improper Medicare payments in FY 2014. The lion’s share of this amount — $2.39 billion — represented overpayments collected, compared to $173.1 million in underpayments repaid to providers. Considering all program costs (other than expenses incurred at the third…

CMS recently provided an update on its education and enforcement strategies related to its “Two Midnight” policy, which addresses when surgical procedures, diagnostic tests and other treatments are generally considered appropriate for inpatient hospital admission under Medicare Part A. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 generally bars recovery audit contractors (RACs)…

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released its June 2015 Report to the Congress on Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System. The report includes a series of recommendations on Medicare hospital short-stay policy, in response in part to hospital concerns about related Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Program audits and appeals and the financial impact on beneficiaries associated with the growing use of outpatient observation day status. Specifically, MedPAC recommends that:
Continue Reading MedPAC Report to Congress on Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System

CMS has announced that it has awarded the Region 5 Recovery Audit contract to Connolly, LLC (although the Government Accountability Office subsequently reported that a bid protest has been filed regarding this award). The purpose of this contract will be to identify improper Medicare payments for durable medical equipment (DME), orthotics, prosthetics, and supplies and…

According to a new CMS report, fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare Recovery Auditors identified and corrected 1,532,249 claims for improper payments in FY 2013, representing $3.75 billion in improper payments. Of this amount, $3.65 billion was attributable to overpayments, compared to 102.4 million of the improper claims were underpayments that were repaid to providers and suppliers. According…

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report entitled “Medicare Program Integrity: Increased Oversight and Guidance Could Improve Effectiveness and Efficiency of Postpayment Claims Reviews."  In the report, the GAO assesses CMS policies and procedures to prevent certain Medicare contractors (Medicare Administrative Contractors, Zone Program Integrity Contractors, Recovery Auditors, and the Comprehensive Error…

The Senate Aging Committee has released a staff report entitled “Improving Audits: How We Can Strengthen the Medicare Program for Future Generations.”  The report describes the burden audits can impose on providers, and raises concerns that CMS’s current efforts are “aimed more at identifying and recovering improper payments that have already occurred, rather…

In an effort to “increase program transparency and offer more efficient resolutions to providers” subject to the medical review process, CMS has created the new position of “Provider Relations Coordinator."  The Provider Relations Coordinator is intended to improve communication between providers and CMS on medical review process issues. For instance, providers can contact…

A number of Congressional panels have focused on following health policy issues recently, including the following:

  • The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee examined various Medicare hospital issues, including the CMS two-midnights policy, short inpatient stays, outpatient observation stays, Recovery Audit Contractor audits, and the appeals backlog.
  • The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a

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CMS has released data on Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) operations fiscal year 2012. Key findings included the following:

  • In FY 2012, Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) RACs collectively identified and corrected 1,272,297 claims for improper payments, which resulted in $2.4 billion in improper payments being corrected ($2.3 billion in overpayments/$109.4 million in underpayments). Subtracting fees, costs, and

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CMS has announced that it is extending provider education activities related to its new Medicare inpatient hospital admission and medical review criteria (commonly known as the 2-Midnight Rule). Specifically, CMS is extending what it refers to as the “Probe & Educate” review process for an additional six months, through September 30, 2014. Under this extension,…

As discussed in previous reports, the final FY 2014 IPPS rule established new criteria for determining the appropriateness of inpatient admissions. In brief, under this policy, CMS generally will presume that surgical procedures, diagnostic tests, and other treatments are appropriate for Medicare Part A inpatient hospital payment when the physician admits a patient based…