Hospice Audit Series: Beyond Part D, OIG Scrutinizes the Hospice Industry to the Tune of $6.6 Billion
Hooper, Kearney and Macklin on Cutting Edge Topics in the False Claims Act
The 60-day Refund Rule, created by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, requires providers to report and return Medicare and Medicaid overpayments within 60 days of identifying them. See Section 1128J(d) of the Social Security Act,...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for Calendar Year (CY) 2025 for Medicare Advantage (MA) Capitation Rates and Part C and Part D Payment Policies on Jan....more
On November 6, 2023, CMS released a pre-publication version of a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) that is set to publish in the Federal Register on November 15, 2023, and that would amend the regulations governing Medicare...more
On June 7, 2023, CMS issued a final rule retroactively re-adopting its policy requiring patient days attributable to Medicare Part C beneficiaries (Part C days) to be counted in the Medicare fraction of the disproportionate...more
From an agency guidance and regulatory developments perspective, 2022 was fairly quiet until the latter part of the year. Consistent with past practice, the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule late last year to harmonize the standard it would apply for providers to identify and refund overpayments with the “knowledge” standard under the False Claims...more
On December 27, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule which, in part, seeks to amend the existing regulations for Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D regarding the standard for when an...more
On December 14, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that contemplates several changes to, and clarifications of, guidance for the Medicare Advantage (MA) program in coverage year 2024....more
Every year Medicare gives beneficiaries a window of opportunity to shop around and determine if their current Medicare plan is still the best one for them. During Medicare's Open Enrollment Period, which runs from October 15...more
The Provider Relief Fund (PRF) Application and Attestation Portal is now open for Phase 4 and American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural Distribution applications. Distributions received can be used for changes in a provider’s...more
While the pandemic put many things on hold, it did not do the same for the False Claims Act (FCA). To find out what is happening in FCA activity we spoke with Patrick Hooper, Jordan Kearney and Alicia Macklin, partners at the...more
Under the Provider Relief Fund Terms and Conditions, each recipient is required to submit reports to HHS. This notice supplements HHS’ July 20, 2020 Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements (previously reported on here)....more
On August 21, 2020, CMS issued a transmittal (Change Request 11642) instructing Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to recalculate the Part C components of nursing and allied health (NAH) and direct graduate medical...more
On August 4th, CMS released a proposed rule titled Treatment of Medicare Part C Days in the Calculation of a Hospital’s Medicare Disproportionate Patient Percentage (DPP). We’ve written before about the Medicaid...more
On August 6, 2020, CMS published a proposed regulation that would require patient days attributable to Medicare Part C beneficiaries (Part C days) to be counted in the Medicare fraction of the disproportionate share hospital...more
In this week’s episode, Adam Cooper discusses the Supreme Court’s decision in Azar v. Allina Health Services, as well as a related memorandum issued in late 2019 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) that...more
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of General Counsel (OGC) offered the healthcare industry the benefit of its legal analysis of the recent US Supreme Court opinion in Azar v. Allina Health Services...more
On October 31, 2019, the Office of General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued an important memo from Kelly M. Cleary, CMS Chief Legal Officer, and Brenna E. Jenny, Deputy General...more
On September 19, 2019, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released H.R. 3, the Lower Drug Costs Now Act, to make a series of changes to Medicare to lower the price of prescription drugs. The bill must move through three...more
On June 3, 2019, the Supreme Court issued an eagerly anticipated opinion in Azar v. Allina Health Services, a decision with far-reaching implications both for the calculation of disproportionate share payments and provider...more
The Medicare Program, established in 1965, initially seemed simple: provide health care for senior citizens by paying hospitals and doctors directly for the care the seniors required. Initially, there were two parts to...more
On June 3, 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Azar v. Allina Health Services, et al., Case No. 17-1484. The Court ruled in favor of a group of hospitals in a dispute over Medicare disproportionate share...more
On June 3, 2019, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) issued an opinion in Azar v. Allina Health Services whereby it ruled that the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) violated the Medicare...more
In a 7-to-1 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court on June 3, 2019, held that “Because the Department of Health and Human Services neglected its statutory notice-and-comment obligations when it revealed a new policy that...more
In a landmark decision on June 3, 2019, the Supreme Court held that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was required to engage in notice and comment rulemaking before publishing methodology (Medicare Fractions)...more