On June 27, 2024, the Supreme Court of the United States released its opinion in SEC v. Jarkesy, a case involving a Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) enforcement action for civil penalties against an investment...more
Although newly released data from the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) suggests that the Medicare claim appeals backlog might be decreasing, OMHA's case processing time and recent litigation challenging the...more
On December 17, 2019, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) reintroduced legislation to address the backlog of Medicare appeals cases awaiting review before an...more
In the wake of its recent efforts to settle claims (see the 2014 initial hospital inpatient settlement and the 2016 second-round wave), in the heavily backlogged Medicare administrative appeals system, CMS has introduced a...more
Recent opinions by the Fifth Circuit, the Northern and Southern Districts of Texas, and the District of South Carolina offer hope to providers seeking relief from substantial monetary recoupments during the Medicare appeals...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced on November 3, 2017 additional settlement options for providers and suppliers in an effort to improve the Medicare claims appeals process, which included (1) the Low...more
The Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) has announced the expansion of their Settlement Conference Facilitation (SCF) program. ...more
In November 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced new settlement options for providers and suppliers stuck in the backlog of the Medicare appeals process. One of the new options available is the...more
On February 5, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) began accepting Expressions of Interest (“EOI(s)”) from Medicare fee-for-service providers to participate in a new Low-Volume Appeals Initiative...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published its final rule revamping the Medicare appeals process at the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) level on January 17, 2017. The final rule extensively revises federal...more
HHS announced a Proposed Rule on July 5, 2016 aimed at reducing the backlog of appeals at the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) and Departmental Appeals Board (DAB) for Medicare payment and coverage...more
The HHS Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (“OMHA”) recently launched Phase III of the Settlement Conference Facilitation (“SCF”) Pilot to help resolve outstanding Medicare Part A appeals. The SCF program is one of...more
Medicare’s implementation of post-payment review through private contractors who are overly aggressive in denying payments, combined with a severe backlog of cases in queue for hearing before an Administrative Law Judge...more
A new Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) website offers intel on reimbursement appeal status, but does little to speed up the appeal process or eliminate the current backlog. It does, however, provide useful...more
For the last several years, hospitals, on the one hand, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and its contractors (collectively, CMS), on the other, have been engaged in a spirited dispute over claims denials for...more