Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
OIG SLAMS CODING SEMINAR COMPANY
Have you been duped by coding and billing education companies that tout non-existent formal affiliations with Medicare? If so you're not alone - and the HHS Office of Inspector General is fighting mad about it. Indeed, the watchdog agency April 3 socked La Mesa, CA-based U.S. Seminar Corp. with a demand letter seeking more than $1 million in fines for misusing the word "Medicare" on its marketing materials. The OIG maintains that U.S. Seminar sent out thousands of solicitations suggesting that Medicare or the Department of Health and Human Services formally approved, endorsed or authorized its coding and reimbursement seminars. The company also allowed its employees to misidentify themselves as Medicare representatives and told providers that its services were mandatory under the Medicare program. Those solicitations generated complaints in every state in the nation, the OIG says, and continued despite repeated warnings that they were illegal. In fact, federal law provides for steep penalties for misrepresenting affiliations with Medicare and/or HHS in advertisements. To see the OIG's April 8 Alert, go to http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/alertsandbulletins/040803MisuseofHHSSymbols.pdf.
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
- Medicare Drug Benefit:
CONGRESS DESPERATELY SEEKING WAYS TO RETOOL DRUG BILLS
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NGA MEDICAID PANEL MULLING MORE THAN WHITE HOUSE PLAN
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HEALTH PLANS FIGHTING NEGATIVE PERCEPTIONS IN REFORM BATTLE
Health plans hoping to see a larger population of Medicare beneficiaries move into private plans [...] - Dual Eligibles:
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High on states' wish list for Congress is legislation to shift Medicaid costs for beneficiaries [...] - Litigation:
GALLUP SUES SCULLY OVER ALLEGED BULLYING
The Gallup Organization polling firm has filed suit against Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [...] - Hospitals:
HOSPITAL-PHYSICIAN BUSINESS DEALS UNDER SCRUTINY
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HOSPITALS BEMOAN OUTLIER CHANGES
Hospitals should brace themselves for potential reimbursement shortfalls under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid [...] - Physicians:
PHYSICIANS CAN EARN CMEs THROUGH QIOs
Physicians have one more incentive to get involved with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid [...] - Medicare:
OIG SLAMS CODING SEMINAR COMPANY
Have you been duped by coding and billing education companies that tout non-existent formal affiliations [...] - Fraud & Abuse:
YOUR PATIENTS ARE WATCHING YOU
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PER-PATIENT FEE STRUCTURES RAISE COMPLIANCE RED FLAGS
If you're about to ink a business deal with another health care provider that involves [...] - Hospitals:
OUTLIER BLUNDERS GO BOTH WAYS
Hospitals face ever-mounting attention on Medicare outlier payments - and are bracing for a new [...] - Overpayments:
EPOGEN, Rx CHARGES STAND OUT IN OUTPATIENT PAYMENT REVIEW
Providers of outpatient services should take note that their claims are under scrutiny by the [...] - Long-Term Care:
SNFs FACE ELIGIBILITY SCRUTINY
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MRA COVERAGE EXPANDS
Health care providers will soon have more opportunities to collect Medicare reimbursement for magnetic resonance [...] - HIPAA:
EXPECT THE EXPECTED IN HIPAA ENFORCEMENT
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CMS SHOOTS DOWN PRRB REVERSAL OF PTs' SALARY ADJUSTMENTS
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NEW RULES HIT HOME FOR HOSPITAL SURVEYS
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WINS, LOSSES AND TIES IN MEDICARE PET SCAN POLICIES
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' tardiness in implementing a national fee schedule for [...] - BILL WATCH
The following House bills were introduced:
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Deputy Administrator Ruben King-Shaw has left the agency. King-Shaw, [...]
