Whew…the election is over.  No more political ads, emails, and other propaganda… Ok, so we have our new elected officials, now our new elected officials need to pass some new legislation protecting providers when it comes to “noncredible allegations of fraud.”

Due Process…It’s such a fundamental part of our society that we rarely think about due process on a day-to-day basis. Not until due process is violated, do we usually contemplate it.

However, when it comes to credible allegations of fraud against a health care provider who accepts Medicaid or Medicare, the federal government, arguably, dropped the ball. The federal regulations instruct the states to “afford due process,” but fail to instruct how. 42 CFR 455.23. Which leaves the due process component in the states’ hands.

To begin with, the standard for a credible allegation of fraud is excruciatingly low. I mean, LOW. The bar has been set so low that an ant would probably climb over the bar rather than walk beneath it. See my past blogs: “New Mexico Affords No Due Process Based on a PCG Audit.”and   “NC Medicaid Providers: “Credible Allegations of Fraud?” YOU ARE GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT!!”  For example, a disgruntled employee or a competitor can draft an anonymous letter without a signature and without a return address, send it to the single state entity, and all your reimbursements could be suspended without any notice to you.

Senator Mary Kay Papen of New Mexico and her team have drafted a fantastic proposed state bill which would provide safeguards for health care providers’ due process while still allowing the state to investigate Medicaid fraud. I mean, let’s face it, we want to catch Medicaid fraud, but we don’t all live in Florida…or New York. :) Fraud is much more infrequent than people imagine compared to the overreaching ability of the single state agencies to suspend innocent providers’ reimbursements.

I had the privilege of flying out to New Mexico a week or so ago to testify before a subcommittee of the legislature about my opinion of Senator Papen’s proposed bill.

Little known fact about New Mexico: The New Mexico legislature is the only unpaid legislature in the country. I had no idea. To which, I said, which I believed was a logical statement, “why doesn’t the legislature pass a bill that creates salaries for members of the legislature?” I was told that no bill providing salaries to members of legislature would ever be signed by the governor (no specific governor, I believe, but, any governor) because the status of governor is so important/powerful in New Mexico due to the less powerful legislature. In other words, supposedly, no governor would sign a bill instituting salaries for members of legislature because the governor would be fearful to lose power. (I do not know the validity of this conjecture, but I do find it interesting).

Going back to the proposed bill…

For starters, the proposed bill re-defines “credible allegation of fraud.” Instead of the current federal statute, which holds an allegation credible if it is merely uttered aloud, the proposed bill states that a credible allegation of fraud is credible only after the single state entity:

1. Considers the totality of the facts and circumstances;
2. Conducts a careful review of the facts, evidence, and facts; and
3. Determines that sufficient indicia of reliability exist to justify a reason to refer the provider to the Attorney General (AG) for further investigation.

The proposed bill also forbids extrapolation as to alleged overpayments.

Further, the proposed bill forbids the state agency from suspending payments until certain safety procedures are met. For example, all appeals and administrative remedies must be exhausted, and the bill allows the provider to post a bond in order to keep receiving reimbursements.

It also allows a provider to receive injunctive relief against the agency in order to continue receiving reimbursements.

And, my favorite part, states that a judge may award attorney’s fees if it shown that the agency substantially prejudiced the provider’s rights and acted arbitrarily and capriciously. Obviously, the attorneys’ fees are not a given; the provider would need to show that the state, somehow, acted, for example, without enough evidence or failed to provide due process.

Senator Papen’s proposed bill is just that…a proposed bill.  But, it is a start in the right direction.  If, in fact, the federal government placed the burden on the states to implement due process in situations in which there are allegations of fraud, then the states need to act.  Because, right now, when there is noncredible allegation of fraud, the state has the ability, and is using this ability in many states, to completely shut down providers.  In essence, an allegation of fraud becomes the death of a company…no reimbursements, no income, no payroll, terminate staff, cease paying bills, file for bankruptcy.

The End.

I encourage more states to review Senator Papen’s proposed bill and propose similar bills in other states.

And for you politicians…the best part? At least, in New Mexico, the bill appeared to be supported by a non-partisan group.

BTW, in case you are interested, here are the changes to our General Assembly and Congress after Tuesday’s election: (brought to you by Tracy Colvard, Vice President of Government Relations and Public Policy for AHHC).

The Numbers

North Carolina Legislature

• Republicans in N.C. House (2015-16): 74
• Number needed for supermajority: 72
• Democrats in N.C. House (2015-16): 46
• Change from 2013-2014: +3 DEM
• New faces in House: 15
• Incumbents defeated: 4
• Republicans in N.C. Senate (2015-16): 34
• Number needed for supermajority: 30
• Democrats in N.C. Senate (2015-16): 16
• Change from 2013-2014: +1 GOP
• New faces in Senate: 6
• Incumbents defeated: 1

N.C. Congressional Delegation

• Republicans in U.S. House: 10
• Democrats in U.S. House: 3
• Change from 2013-2014: +1 GOP
• Republicans in U.S. Senate: 2
• Democrats in U.S. Senate: 0
• Change from 2013-2014: +1 (GOP)

Thanks, Tracy, for those demographics.

Now, let’s get some due process safeguards for health care providers!!!!