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 health care regulatory space realized significant regulatory and enforcement developments in 2024 that are influencing how providers and industry stakeholders approach various compliance measures and enforcement...more
The Medicare program continues to face long term financial pressures associated with inflationary effects on health care costs and the growing wave of aging baby boomers. The Medicare Trust Fund, which is often viewed as a...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued its long-anticipated final rule clarifying the 60-day overpayment refund obligation (the 60-Day Rule) first established in a 2016 regulation for Medicare Part A and B...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized material changes to the overpayment rules for Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D effective January 1, 2025. These changes create new ambiguity and practical challenges...more
In November 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released a final rule addressing, among other things, the Medicare Parts A and B overpayment provisions of the Affordable Care Act (the “Final Rule”). It...more
New policies tucked into the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule (Final Rule) will likely spur increased Accountable Care Organization (ACO) participation in the...more
In the Calendar Year 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized changes to the Medicare Parts A and B Overpayment Rule that were proposed in two prior rulemakings. This...more
On October 31, the CFPB and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a joint statement reminding Medicare providers, Medicare Advantage plans, and debt collectors of their responsibilities under federal law to protect...more
On October 11, 2024, CMS issued a final rule establishing a new appeals process for Medicare beneficiaries who were initially admitted to a hospital as an inpatient but are later reclassified as an outpatient receiving...more
CMS recently published the First Annual Evaluation Report (the “Report”) highlighting its most significant observations in the first year following implementation of the Kidney Care Choices Model (the “KCC Model”). By way of...more
Does your company's health plan provide prescription drug coverage? If so, you have until October 15, 2024 to send a notice to individuals who are enrolled in Medicare Part A or Part B and are eligible for the company's...more
The HHS Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation (WPS) are notifying 946,801 people whose protected health information or other personally identifiable information...more
Both companies and their C-suite executives should be mindful of the interactions between COBRA and Medicare and their implications when negotiating a severance or retirement arrangement. This is because Medicare enrollment...more
On August 28, as part of its Fiscal Year 2025 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Final Rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM)...more
Stakeholders are continuing to analyze the implications of the mammoth proposed rule on “Medicare and Medicaid Programs: [Calendar Year (CY)] 2025 Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule and Other Changes to Part B...more
On July 10, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”) in which it outlined proposed amendments to the suspension provisions and deadlines for reporting and returning...more
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
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program got good news from The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) related to widespread fraud involving urinary catheters that...more
CMS estimates that between 2017 and 2021, Medicare Part A improperly paid $23.9 billion for inpatient hospital stays, with $7.8 billion attributable to short stays that did not qualify for Medicare Part A. On June 13, 2024,...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a final rule on May 6, 2024 (the “Final Rule”) under Section 1557 of the...more
For the past month or longer, many providers have reported a significant impact on their revenue cycle due to the cyberattack on Change Healthcare, LLC. In light of that impact, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...more
Earlier this week, President Biden released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 President’s Budget. As a reminder, every year, the White House releases a budget that serves as its official funding request to Congress for the following...more
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a new favorable OIG Advisory Opinion, concluding that, although the proposed arrangement (“Proposed Arrangement”) between a Medicare Supplement insurer (“MediGap Plan”)...more
Is Medicare Advantage really a Disadvantage for seniors and taxpayers? Our nation is graying rapidly. Every day, 10,000 baby boomers, members of one of the largest generations in U.S. history, hit the traditional...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