Recently, numerous clients have come to me asking whether they have the right to appeal straight to the Office of Administrative Appeals or whether they have to attend informal appeals first, whether the informal appeal is within a managed care organization (MCO), the Division of Medical Assistance (DMA) or any other entity contracted by DMA.

The answer is: No, you are not required to go through the informal review prior to filing a contested case at OAH, but, in some cases, the informal review is beneficial.

Let me explain.

N.C. Gen. Stat. 150B-22-37 (Article 3) applies to:

“[A]ny dispute between an agency and another person that involves the person’s rights, duties, or privileges, including licensing or the levy of a monetary penalty, should be settled through informal procedures. In trying to reach a settlement through informal procedures, the agency may not conduct a proceeding at which sworn testimony is taken and witnesses may be cross-examined. If the agency and the other person do not agree to a resolution of the dispute through informal procedures, either the agency or the person may commence an administrative proceeding to determine the person’s rights, duties, or privileges, at which time the dispute becomes a “contested case.”

N.C. Gen. Stat. 150B-22.

“Any dispute between an agency and another person”…Obviously DMA is a state agency, but is Public Consulting Group (PCG)?  Is the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCME)? East Carolina Behavioral Health?  HMS?

What if you disagree with a prepayment review result that CCME conducted?  DMA had nothing to do with the actual prepayment review.  Can you bring a contested case at OAH against CCME?

Yes.  But include DHHS, DMA as a named Respondent.  If you include the state agency that contracted with the entity, then jurisdiction is proper at OAH.  The argument being that the actions of a contracted entity is imputed to the principle (DMA).

“Should be settled through informal procedures…”  Notice it states “should,” not “must.”  Time and time again when a provider skips the informal review within the entity (for example, let’s say that MeckLINK terminates Provider Jane’s Medicaid contract and files a grievance with OAH instead of through MeckLINK first) the counsel for the entity (MeckLINK in this example) argues that OAH does not have jurisdiction because Jane failed to exhaust her administrative remedies.  As in, Jane should have appealed through MeckLINK first.

In my opinion, appealing to the very entity that is causing the grievance is futile.  The decision was made.  The entity is not going to rule against itself. 

Plus, there is no requirement for any petitioner to exhaust informal appeals prior to appealing to OAH.  When you receive a Tentative Notice of Overpayment from PCG, you can go to an informal review or you can appeal in OAH. 

The “failing to exhaust administrative remedies” argument is being misapplied by the entities.  In order to file judicial review in Superior Court or a declaratory judgment action in Superior Court, you must exhaust all administrative remedies prior to seeking relief in Superior Court.  But the requirement to exhaust administrative remedies is not applicable to filing at OAH.

The upshot is that any person aggrieved may bring a contested case in OAH without attending an informal appeal first.

However, there are some occasions that, in my opinion, the informal appeal is useful.  Such as an overpayment found by PCG.  If you receive a Tentative Notice of Overpayment by PCG, the informal reconsideration review at DMA can be helpful for a number of reasons.

1.  It forces you to review the audited documents with a fine tooth comb prior to getting in front of a judge.

2. It allows you to find all PCG’s mistakes, and there will be mistakes, and bring those mistakes to the attention of the auditor.

3.  It gives you a chance to decrease the alleged amount owed before a contested case.

Keeping those positive aspects in mind, most likely, the reconsideration review will NOT resolve the case.  Although it has happened occasionally, more times than not, you will not agree with the reduced amount the DHHS hearing officer decides.  The alleged overpayment will still be extrapolated. The alleged overpayment will still be ridiculous.

Other than an overpayment, I have found very little use for the informal appeals.