Home Health & Hospice Week
RAC Audits Will Impact Medicaid Claims Jan. 1, CMS Says
Delays have given you more time to prepare. You've benefited from several delays to Medicaid RAC audits, but Jan. 1 will be a day of reckoning when those audits kick in. Recovery Audit Contractors will be reviewing Medicaid claims soon, thanks to last year's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Although RAC audits were originally slated to impact Medicaid claims on April 1, 2011, CMS delayed that date (see Eli's Home Care Week, Vol. XX, No. 11, p. 85). Finally on Sept. 14, CMS posted a final rule in the Federal Register indicating the audits will begin on Jan. 1, 2012. Medicaid RACs may be more inclined to review home care claims than the Medicare RACs, experts speculate. In place for Medicare providers since 2005, RACs are often referred to as medical review "bounty hunters" because they make money only if they collect overpayments from you. Their income is tied to the amount they recover, and is based on a percentage of the overpayments they identify. The government projects that RAC audits could save Medicaid more than $2 billion between 2012 and 2017, and a portion of those savings will go back to the states. "If we're going to spurt jobs and economic growth and restore long-term fiscal solvency, we need to make sure hard-earned tax dollars don't go to waste," Vice President Joe Biden said in a Sept. 14 news release. The Federal Register notice is at www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2011-23695_PI.pdf.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Patient Privacy:
Focus On Portable Device Protection In Your HIPAA Compliance Plan
Home care providers face special privacy risks. With HIPAA enforcement looking to ramp up in [...] - Compliance:
Take These 6 Steps To Shore Up Your HIPAA Compliance
The majority of home care providers are out of compliance, experts believes. Smart home care [...] - HIPAA:
Remind Home Care Workers Of Facebook Rules
Employees have a right to use social media, but must protect identifiable patient information. Another [...] - Budget:
President Obama Proposes Home Health Copayment
Expect a fight to avoid a $100 copay for nonhospitalized patients. You may find a [...] - Enrollment:
Your PECOS Edit Concerns May Be Over
At the very least, claims rejections from PECOS edits should be greatly reduced when they [...] - Industry Note:
RAC Audits Will Impact Medicaid Claims Jan. 1, CMS Says
Delays have given you more time to prepare. You've benefited from several delays to Medicaid [...] - Industry Note:
Medicare Requires Electronic Funds Transfer With Revali-dation
If you still receive Medicare payments via paper, don't expect that to last long. "Existing [...] - Industry Note:
Understand This Therapy Reassessment Loophole
You'll be off the hook for a therapy patient's 30-day reassessment if the patient is [...] - Industry Note:
HIPAA Problems Abound
Just because HIPAA breaches don't make the nightly news doesn't mean they aren't happening -- and [...] - Industry Note:
Expect To Serve More Managed Care Patients
Don't be surprised to see more Medicare Advantage managed care patients on your rolls in [...] - Industry Note:
Overpayment Logging Delays Creates Confusion
Don't freak out if you get a second overpayment letter from HHH MAC subcontractor National [...] - Industry Note:
Keep An Eye On 2012 Vaccination Pay Rate
With flu season nearly upon you, it may be time to brush up on your [...] - Industry Note:
CMS Pushes Back First Payment Bundling Deadline
Introducing bundling across provider types for Medicare payments may take a bit longer than CMS [...] - Industry Note:
Authorities Pound Medicaid Providers On Fraud
Authorities continue to pound Medicaid home care providers with the anti-fraud hammer. In Virginia, a [...] - Industry Note:
Beware Falls Problems For Patients With Poor Eyesight
You should consider putting your patients who have diminished eyesight on the watch list for [...]
