Home Health & Hospice Week
RACs Rack Up Millions In Recoupments
Recovery Audit Contractors may not have cracked down on home health agency and hospice providers yet, but that day is likely coming. And RACs are building up steam collecting overpayments on durable medical equipment suppliers. Anew CMS report reveals that during fiscal year 2010, RACs collected $75.4 million from providers that were overpaid by their Medicare contractors. But that number pales in comparison to the amount the RACs collected just in the first three months of 2011. Between January and March, the RACs collected $162 million in overpayments. The good news: Despite their reputation as "bounty hunters," the RACs do appear to be returning money to providers that were underpaid. During the first quarter of 2011, the RACs returned $22.6 million to providers. All told, they found $184.6 million in incorrect Medicare payments during the first three months of this year. Two of the four RACs' top denial reasons were DME-related. Both Region C (Connolly Inc.) and Region D (HealthDataInsights) listed "DMEPOS Provided During An Inpatient Stay" as their top recovery issue. "Medicare does not make separate payment for DMEPOS when a beneficiary is in a covered inpatient stay. Suppliers are inappropriately receiving separate DMEPOS payment when the beneficiary is in a covered inpatient stay," the report says under the "Billing for Bundled Services Separately" DME topic. The report is at www.cms.gov/RAC/Downloads/FFSNewsletter.pdf.
Home Health & Hospice Week
- Therapy:
Adopt A 'Tracking'Mindset For 30-Day Therapy Reassessments
Therapists' frustration mounts as new requirements sink in. Making sure you hit your deadlines for [...] - Regulations:
Avoid These 6 Pitfalls For New Therapy Reassessments
Tip: Keep your reeval documentation simple. Mixing up the visit counting requirements isn't home health [...] - Reimbursement:
Outlier Fix On The Way, But Is It Enough?
CMS to fix glitches in HHA outlier payments. Have you been under the 10 percent [...] - OASIS:
Know The M1024 Ropes Or Risk Your PPS Payment
Here's when to fill in M1024 -- and when not to. Since the home health prospective [...] - Finance:
Home Health Company Profits Fall In 2011
Revenues continue to rise, however. If you've seen falling income so far this year, you're [...] - Industry Notes:
Bill Allowing PAs As Hospice Attendings Would Up Access
Hospices may see more Medicare beneficiaries on their rolls if proposed legislation to improveaccess to [...] - Industry Notes:
Will IPAB Get Repealed?
The so-called "Super-MedPAC" established in the health care reform law last year is coming under [...] - Industry Notes:
Tap These 5010 Resources
The Jan. 1 compliance date for the new HIPAA 5010 standards is fast approaching. Take [...] - Industry Notes:
Doc Fix Threatens Home Care Reimbursement
Watch out for possible rate cuts coming down the legislative pike this session. Physicians are [...] - Industry Notes:
RACs Rack Up Millions In Recoupments
Recovery Audit Contractors may not have cracked down on home health agency and hospice providers [...] - Industry Notes:
Senior Patrol Ranks Swell, But Fraud Findings Shrink
You may have more seniors looking over your shoulder, but they are finding less fraud [...] - Industry Notes:
Solve Overlapping Claims Problems With This Resource
Not sure how to resolve problems due to claims overlapping with another provider? Check out [...] - Industry Notes:
Catch Sold-Out OIG Training Via Webcast For Free
Did you miss the OIG's recent compliance training sessions in person? Don't worry, you can [...] - Industry Notes:
Don't Let 'Dim Days' Take You By Surprise
If Palmetto GBA is your HHH MAC, don't be surprised when no payments or remittance [...]
