Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
REGISTER WATCH
Besides changing the outlier payment rule (see Article, p. 4) and proposing a pay increase for long-term care hospitals (see Article, p. 4), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services had relatively little to say in the Federal Register this past week. In minor notices, CMS:
• Offered corrections to “technical and typographical errors” in the PPS final rule for long term care hospitals originally published Oct. 1, 2002. The corrections are effective immediately;
• Asked for comments on information collection efforts regarding conditions for coverage for rural health clinics;
• Requested input on assessing the Division of Beneficiary Inquiry Customer Service’s performance on written responses.
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
- Pharmaceuticals:
MEDICARE FFS RX BENEFIT PROPOSAL UNVEILED
Those who chose to stay in traditional feefor- service Medicare would get only a limited [...] - Medicare Private Plans:
BUSH WANTS FEHBP ANALOGUE, COMPETITIVE MEDICARE+CHOICE
Beneficiaries willing to leave traditional Medicare and join a private plan would have two options [...] - DME:
OIG HANGS UP ON DME TELEMARKETERS
Irked by telemarketing calls? So is the HHS Office of Inspector General — and if [...] - HHS Inspector General:
UNDER CLOSE INSPECTION, INSPECTOR GENERAL QUITS
As investigation into her conduct of the office of Health and Human Services Inspector General [...] - Hospitals:
OUTLIER RULE COULD HELP HONEST HOSPITALS
Hospitals that have played by the rules when it comes to Medicare outlier payments could [...] - Long-Term Care:
LTCHs DUE FOR 2.2 PERCENT RAISE
Long-term care hospitals won’t have to deal with restrictions on the number of satellite beds [...] - Hospitals:
BAD DEBT COMPLIANCE -- WHAT TO WATCH FOR
The latest round of HHS Office of Inspector General inquiries into how well hospitals comply [...] - Kickbacks:
HOSPITAL GROUP CALLS FOR NEW SAFE HARBORS
Hospitals puzzled over what kinds of freebies they can provide their patients without running afoul [...] - Medicaid:
OIG EYES BAY STATE SCHOOL SERVICES
Two school districts in Massachusetts could do more to ensure that their Medicaid claims for [...] - Compliance:
OIG SPEAKS OUT TO WEST-COAST PROVIDERS
Looking for some first hand insight on what’s going on inside the HHS Office of [...] - Enforcement:
WAR ON TERROR MEETS WAR ON HEALTH CARE FRAUD
A Fayetteville, NY oncologist allegedly enmeshed in a plot to illegally send money to Iraq [...] - PROGRAM MEMO ROUNDUP
Physicians should expect an influx of patients seeking colorectal screenings in coming weeks, as the [...] - BILL WATCH
The following House bills were introduced: H.R. 960. A bill to amend part C of [...] - REGISTER WATCH
Besides changing the outlier payment rule (see Article, p. 4) and proposing a pay increase [...]
