A Command Performant(s): RAC Audits on the Rise
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
The final quarter of 2016 ended with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announcing Performant Recovery, Inc. (Performant) as the new national Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) to focus solely on Home Health,...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 October 15, 2015, CMS released its annual recovery auditing report to Congress. CMS’s Recovery Auditor (RAC) program identifies and corrects improper payments through a combination of prepayment and post-payment reviews,...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a further delay, through December 31, 2015, of the Recovery Auditors’ (RA) audits of the “Two-Midnight” Rule. Congress previously passed a law delaying...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
In this issue: - Document Retention in a Long Term Care Facility - Medicare RAC Program Improvements Delayed Until 2016 - “Bring Your Own Device” To Work Programs - NLRB Upends Legality of Employer Email...more
Since the advent of Medicare in 1965, hospitals have bemoaned the cost and burden of Medicare audits. The complaints increased when CMS hired private contractors for the audits. They became deafening in 2009 with the advent...more
CMS issued its first set of FAQs on the new 2 midnight inpatient admission standards [PDF] on September 26. In those FAQs, CMS stated: - Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and Recovery Auditors are not to...more
The HHS Office of Inspector General has targeted hospitals for fraud enforcement. It is one of the OIG’s most important initiatives because of the impact it could have on reducing health care costs....more
On February 5, 2013, CMS sent Congress a report summarizing developments related to its Medicare recovery audit program for fiscal year (FY) 2011. According to the report (titled Recovery Auditing in the Medicare and...more