Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
PROGRAM MEMO ROUNDUP
Independent therapists and durable medical equipment suppliers will face stepped-up scrutiny next month of claims for care provided to patients under home health consolidated billing, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services warns in a March 7 program memorandum (B-03-021; http://cms.hhs.gov/manuals/pm_trans/B03021.pdf).
CMS notes that therapists and suppliers are responsible for determining whether a Medicare beneficiary is under a home health plan of care — and that they need to make sure they do so. To make it easier, CMS says it will make home health data available to them through the Eligibility Benefit Inquiry/Response Transaction System. Starting April 1, the agency says, therapists’ and suppliers’ claims will be subject to recovery activities.
In a second program memo issued this week, CMS announced the installation of a second provider statistical and reimbursement report addon software release (A-03-018; http://cms.hhs.gov/manuals/pm_trans/A03018.pdf).
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
- Reimbursement:
MEDICARE, MEDICAID FUNDING SLASHED IN HOUSE BUDGET DEAL
Members of Congress, including many Democrats, are lending a sympathetic ear to governors who seek [...] - Reimbursement:
CONGRESS SEEKS TO PROTECT LOCAL PROVIDERS
Particularly on the Republican side, members of Congress often call for tighter controls on entitlement [...] - Medicaid:
CONGRESS FACES GRIM CHOICES OVER MEDICAID CUTS
To cut over $90 billion from federal Medicaid spending growth over ten years, Congress has [...] - Patient Safety:
HOUSE BILL SEEKS QUALITY IMPROVEMENT
The House March 12 overwhelmingly passed patient safety legislation virtually identical to a bill it [...] - Health-Care Spending:
SENATE BUDGET PANEL WOULD LET STATES KEEP SCHIP FUNDS
Senate leaders want to put their stamp on Medicare and Medicaid spending.
- Pharmaceuticals:
NO RELIEF ON AWP SCRUTINY
Pharmaceutical companies across the country are coming increasingly under the gun as state attorneys general [...] - False Claims Act:
BELL TOLLS, WHISTLE BLOWS FOR CITY- AND COUNTY-RUN FACILITIES
The harsh penalties of the powerful False Claims Act can be levied against a wider [...] - Hospitals:
WATCH OUT FOR DISCHARGE STATUS CODING
Hospital compliance officers should make sure their staff knows the ropes when it comes to [...] - Fraud & Abuse:
THIS IS HEALTH CARE FRAUD ON DRUGS
Think the federal government isn’t still taking health care fraud and abuse seriously? Think again. [...] - Quality of Care:
PHYSICIANS POISED FOR MORE CMS SCRUTINY
Physicians might already feel that they’re being monitored more than enough, but the feds see [...] - PROGRAM MEMO ROUNDUP
Independent therapists and durable medical equipment suppliers will face stepped-up scrutiny next month of claims [...] - BILL WATCH:
The following House bills were introduced: H.R. 1182. A bill to amend title XVIII of [...] - REGISTER WATCH
In a comparatively slow week for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the agency [...]
