If home health care providers sometimes feel that government agencies treat the industry like a pre-ball Cinderella when it comes to payment rates, a new report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) will not make them feel any better. Though CMS continues to look for reasons to reduce payment rates to home care agencies, [...]
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka the health care reform bill currently under consideration by the Senate) has implications for the RACs. Of most relevance in this 2074 page bill is Section 6411 which seeks to expand RACs to Medicare Parts C and D by 12/31/2010. The RAC program would also be expanded [...]
As we have previously reported, RAC auditors are prohibited from investigating overpayments arising from any clinical or administrative issues that were not on the table during the 3-year RAC demonstration project. One by one, the collection agencies that hold RAC contracts have been adding to the list of issues, applying for and getting CMS approval for issues not addressed during the demonstration. From time to time, we will provide updated lists of approved issues. As you will see from this week’s list, RACs are not looking at home care yet.
Home care and hospice can breathe easy for a while, but only about this one issue.
Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) are limited in the issues they can use to recoup funds from Medicare providers. It is important that all providers learn what those issues are and keep themselves updated as they change.
Initially, RACs may only look [...]
Connolly Healthcare, the RAC for Region C, is again leading the RAC pack in getting CMS approval for issues to review. This week Connolly posted two issues for DME providers. Click here if you are interested in seeing the description of these issues. Diversified Collection Services, the RAC for Region A, continues to be the only RAC [...]
There is still not too much activity at the RAC Forum and there may not be until RACs begin targeting hospices. Nevertheless, we have added a new topic/category to the RAC Forum that we hope will be helpful. It is called “Claim Denial Reasons.” At the moment we do not know what issues the RACs will [...]
by Aricka Flowers
HHNS staff writer
As the Recovery Audit Contractor program’s January 1, 2010 implementation date nears, this new challenge to healthcare provider revenue looms as an imminent reality. Many providers look at the few remaining weeks between now and 2010 and are racked with fear and anxiety. Is the trepidation warranted? Not all of it, [...]
by Heather Wilson
There is not much new since the update last week so we will provide a recap of the current status of each RAC.
For Region A, Diversified Collection Services is the only RAC that has not posted any approved issues on its website and therefore has not begun any automated reviews. [...]
Amidst all the talk about Recovery Audit Contractors, some confusion and misinformation still circulates within the Medicare home care community. This basic primer covers the basics and should serve as an introduction to this newsletter’s mission and upcoming feature articles.
