Home Health & Hospice Week

Medicare premiums and deductibles may be going up for 2024, but a potential cost-based barrier to provider appeals won’t.

Amount in controversy (AIC) rates are updated annually and often increase based on inflation. For the second year in a row, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is keeping the AIC costs for the third level of appeals, the Administrative Law Judge request, status quo at $180 for calendar year 2024, according to a notice in the Federal Register on Sept. 29.

However, after substantially bumping up AIC costs for judicial reviews, which are the fifth level of the Medicare appeals process, from $1,760 to $1,850 in 2023, CMS is actually decreasing the rate for next year. For CY 2024, the AIC for judicial review will stand at $1,840.

CMS is reducing the amount based on its standard rounding methodology, the agency explains in the notice at www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2023-09-29/pdf/2023-21500.pdf.