A Command Performant(s): RAC Audits on the Rise
Report on Medicare Compliance 30, no. 2 (January 18, 2021) - Recovery audit contractors (RACs) may soon be auditing positron emission tomography (PET) for initial treatment strategy in oncologic conditions for compliance...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
The federal government recently awarded new contracts for Medicare recovery audits, and recovery audit contractors (“RACs”) will start showing up at hospitals, home health providers, and other facilities any time. But this...more
Originally published in Haig, Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, Fourth Edition §§ 87:1 et seq. © 2016 American Bar Association. This chapter discusses federal court litigation relating to health care...more
On November 7, 2016, in the pending American Hospital Association (AHA) v. Burwell litigation, HHS filed a motion for summary judgment. A central focus of HHS’s motion for summary judgment is assertions that “the backlog is...more
Most providers whose claims have been determined to be improper by the Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) under the Medicare Recovery Audit Program have discovered that the appeals backlog “is incontrovertibly grotesque.”...more
On February 9, 2016, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed a district court’s dismissal for lack of jurisdiction in the American Hospital Association v. Burwell case. ...more
This Week: Congress tries to put together a tax extender package, which may provide an opportunity for some Affordable Care Act changes... HHS releases final rule on bundled payment for Joint Replacement Comprehensive Care...more
In August 27, 2015, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the long-awaited and much-anticipated proposed 340B Drug Pricing Program (340B Program) Omnibus Guidance (Proposed Guidance). The Proposed...more
President Obama Signs Outpatient Status Notification Bill On August 6, 2015, President Obama signed the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act. This legislation requires hospitals...more
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) released its “Report to the Congress: Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System” on June 15, 2015. As previously reported, the report makes recommendations for policy...more
On June 3, 2015, the Senate Finance Committee passed an original bill that aims to streamline and improve the Medicare Audit and Appeals Process. The Medicare appeals process has recently faced scrutiny from industry leaders...more
On May 20, 2015, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing entitled “Challenging the Status Quo: Solutions to the Hospital Observation Stay Crisis.” Chairman Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ranking Member Claire...more
CMS is offering to pay hospitals 68 percent of the allowable amount for all claims that are currently on appeal. Specifically, CMS is offering to settle "inpatient status" claims at 68 percent of the "net paid amount" within...more
Criticism of the RAC (recovery audit contractor) program is becoming a national pastime. Needless to say, hospitals hated the program from the very beginning. And little wonder. The program pays private contractors a...more
A bipartisan group of 111 members of the United States House of Representatives sent a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on February 10, 2014, urging the Secretary to reform the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor...more
The United States Senate and House of Representatives recently introduced bipartisan legislation designed to reduce fraud, waste, and abuse in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The legislation, entitled “Preventing and...more