In This Issue:

- Nonprofit Hospitals Face Additional Regulatory Burdens in Financial Assistance and Debt Collection

- Placing Medicare Beneficiaries Into "Observation Status" - Recent Second Circuit Decision Casts Doubt on Lawfulness of CMS Procedures

- Medicare RAC Program Improvements Delayed Until 2016

- Toss or Keep Document Retention in a Hospital Setting

- Excerpt from Nonprofit Hospitals Face Additional Regulatory Burdens in Financial Assistance and Debt Collection:

Roughly 60 percent of hospitals nationwide either have received or are seeking tax-exempt status under the United States Treasury Department (Treasury) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) rules and regulations. With new final rules and regulations adopted by the Treasury and the IRS effective December 29, 2014, nonprofit hospitals (referred to in the Federal Register as “charitable hospitals”) now face a number of additional requirements when attempting to collect debts owed for care provided to patients and face additional mandates related to financial assistance policies and qualification of certain low-income patients for financial assistance.