June 24, 2009
Fifty-three people have been indicted for schemes to submit more than $50 million in false Medicare claims in the continuing operation of the Medicare Fraud Strike Force in Detroit, Attorney General Eric Holder, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and FBI Director Robert Mueller announced today (June 24, 2009).
The charges were unsealed today against the 53 individuals who are accused of various Medicare fraud offenses, including conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, criminal false claims and violations of the anti-kickback statutes. The indictments returned by a grand jury in Detroit resulted in arrests in Miami, New York City and Detroit.
According to the DOJ, federal agents from the FBI and the HHS Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) began executing arrest warrants and made arrests in Detroit, Miami and New York City earlier today as part of a concentrated effort targeting infusion therapy and physical/occupational therapy providers involved in schemes orchestrated to defraud the Medicare program.
Collectively, the indictment accuses the physicians, medical assistants, patients, company owners and executives charged in the indictments of conspiring to submit more than $50 million in false claims to the Medicare program. According to the indictments, the defendants participated in schemes to submit claims to Medicare for treatments that were in fact medically unnecessary and oftentimes, never provided. In many cases, indictments also allege that beneficiaries accepted cash kickbacks in return for allowing providers to submit forms saying they had received the unnecessary and not provided treatments. An indictment is merely an allegation, and defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The investigation and enforcement action that lead to today’s indictment was conducted as part of the continuing activities of the new interagency Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) that DOJ and HHS jointly announced last month. On May 20, 2009, DOJ and HHS jointly announced they were combining forces to find and prosecute health care fraud through the HEAT and identified Detroit and Houston as cities targeted for Medicare Fraud Strike Force attention.
Before the May 20, 2009 HEAT announcement, Medicare Fraud Strike Forces operating demonstration projects in South Florida and Los Angeles already had produced a number of indictments. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force team operating in South Florida has already convicted 146 defendants and secured $186 million in criminal fines and civil recoveries. After the success of operations in South Florida, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force expanded in May 2008 to phase two in Los Angeles, where 37 defendants have been charged with criminal health care fraud offenses. To date in the Los Angeles cases, more than $55 million has been ordered in restitution to the Medicare program. The success of these demonstration projects lies behind the founding of the HEAT initiative.
The heightened emphasis on enforcement of federal health care fraud laws reflected in the HEAT program the enactment of recent amendments to the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 (FCA) under the “Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009”(FERA). The FERA amendments increase the likelihood both that whistleblowers will turn in health care providers and other individuals and organizations that file false claims in violation of the FCA and the liability that violators may incur for that misconduct.
The FERA amendments and the HEAT Team and Strike Force activities are part of a broader emphasis in the enforcement of federal health care fraud laws by both the Administration and Congress. President Obama’s proposed Fiscal Year 2010 budget seeks to further increase funding for fraud prevention and enforcement by investing $311 million — a 50 percent increase from 2009 funding — to strengthen program integrity activities within the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The Obama Administration anticipates that all combined, the anti-fraud efforts in the President’s budget could save $2.7 billion over five years by improving oversight and stopping fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including the Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug programs. Many state agencies also are stepping up their health care fraud investigations and enforcement.
In light of this new emphasis upon health care fraud detection and enforcement, health care providers now more than ever need to prepare to demonstrate the appropriateness and defensibility of their health care billing and other compliance efforts.
Curran Tomko and Tarski LLP Health Care Practice Chair Cynthia Marcotte Stamer has extensive experience advising and assisting health care practitioners and other businesses and business leaders to establish, administer, investigate and defend health care fraud and other compliance and internal control policies and practices to reduce risk under federal and state health care and other laws. You can get more information about her health industry experience here.
If you need assistance with these or other compliance concerns, wish to inquire about arranging for compliance audit or training, or need legal representation on other matters please contact Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, CTT Health Care Practice Group Chair, at cstamer@cttlegal.com, 214.270.2402 or your other favorite Curran Tomko Tarski LLP attorney.
Other Helpful Resources & Other Information
We hope that this information is useful to you. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail- by creating or updating your profile at here. You can access other recent updates and other informative publications and resources provided by Curran Tomko Tarski LLP attorneys and get information about its attorneys’ experience, briefings, speeches and other credentials here.
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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
June 16, 2009
Friday, June 26, 2009 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time is the deadline to submit comments to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) on the recommendations about what should be considered the term “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs) presented to the Health Information Technology Policy Committee today (June 16, 2009) available for review here. Comments will be received by the Committee for consideration and further recommendations to the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology on the elements and measures of Meaningful Use of a certified EHR.
The HIT Policy Committee is a Federal Advisory Committee (FACA) to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA”) provides for Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments for eligible providers, such as physicians and hospitals, in order to promote the adoption of EHRs. To receive the incentive payments, providers must demonstrate “meaningful use” of a certified EHR. Building upon the work of the HIT Policy Committee, HHS anticipates developing a proposed rule that provides greater detail on the incentive programs and “meaningful use.” HHS expects to issue the proposed rule in late 2009, which will be followed by a comment period.
How OCR decides to define meaningful use of EMR is likely to play a central role in determining how effective provider incentives to use EMR included in ARRA’s HITECH Act provisions work and ultimately influence how effectively those provisions and other OCR efforts to accelerate EMR and other health information technology use to promote health care efficiency and quality work.
For instructions on how to comment or additional information, see here.
For More Information
We hope that this information is useful to you. If you need assistance with EMR or other health care technology, privacy or other health care compliance, risk management, transaction or operation concerns, please contact Curran Tomko Tarski LLP Health Practice Group Chair, Cynthia Marcotte Stamer at (214) 270-2402, CStamer@CTTLegal.com or your other favorite Curan Tomko Tarski LLP Partner.
You can review other recent health care and internal controls resources and additional information about the health industry and other experience of Ms. Stamer here. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail – by creating or updating your profile at here or e-mailing this information to CStamer@CTTLegal.com.
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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
June 10, 2009
Coalition For Responsible Health Care Reform Founded To Help Concerned Americans Respond
Americans concerned about plans of President Obama and Congressional Democrats to enact comprehensive health care reform this year must speak up now.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy yesterday (June 9, 2009) circulated a 625 page proposal to radically reform the U.S. health care system. The latest draft of the “Affordable Health Choices Act” (the “Act”) details the comprehensive health care reforms that President Obama and Democrats in Congress propose to enact before year end. President Obama and key Congressional Democrats are moving quickly to enact their vision for “comprehensive health reform” this year.
The Act circulated yesterday by Senator Kennedy would radically change the U.S. health care system in enacted as currently proposed. Consistent with announced plans by President Obama and key Congressional Democrats to enact “comprehensive health care reform” this year, Democratic leaders in Congress are rushing to enact this legislation well before year end. In furtherance of plans to fast track enactment of the Act, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) chaired by Senator Kennedy will hold a hearing on the Act this week in anticipation of meetings to mark up of the Act on Tuesday, June 16 at 2:30 p.m. in Russell 325.
The Act, as proposed, would make sweeping changes to the U.S. health care system and radically expand the involvement of government in the delivery and financing of health care. Among other things, the Act as proposed would:
- Establish government provided “Gateway” health care coverage programs to provide coverage for Americans not insured under qualifying employer or other privately run “qualified health plan” to be financed in part through surcharges on private health plans and health insurers and other taxes and assessments and in part through premiums on enrolled individuals
- Require that Americans participating in the Gateway health care coverage programs be offered the opportunity to enroll in at least one “public health insurance option”
- Require Americans to chose either to enroll in a government run Gateway health program or enroll in qualifying coverage under a privately run qualified health plan
- Impose sweeping new mandates on employer and union-sponsored group health plans and insurers
- Impose newly created taxes on individuals that fail to maintain enrollment in health coverage under either a Gateway health program or a private qualified health plan
- Tax and/or eliminate the deductibility of health coverage premiums and certain other amounts paid by certain employers and employees
- Impose new federal mandates for health care providers, health plans and health insurers relating to the quality standards, the use of health care technology and other matters
- Grant federal regulators sweeping authority to define what qualifies as appropriate health care and health care coverage, the health care services that qualify for health care coverage and the payment and delivery of health care services.
You can review a copy of currently proposed provisions of the 615 page Act here. Individuals concerned about these and other proposed health care reforms must act immediately to become familiar and share their input on the proposals.
Assistance Monitoring & Responding To Health Care Reform Proposals
If you or someone else you know would like to receive updates about health care reform proposals and other related legislative, regulatory, and enforcement developments, please:
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Register for this resource at the link above;
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Join the Coalition for Responsible Health Policy group at linkedin.com to share information and input;
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Share your input by communicating with key members of Congress on committees responsible for this legislation and your elected officials directly and by actively participating in and contributing to other like-minded groups; and
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Be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail- by creating or updating your profile
here.
You can register to receive future updates on legislative and regulatory health care reform proposals and other related information by registering for this resource or access other publications by Ms. Stamer and access other helpful resources here.
Long-time health policy advocate and advisor Cynthia Marcotte Stamer has more than 22 years of experience advising and assisting clients to evaluate and respond to health care reform proposals and other proposed or adopted changes in federal or state health care, employee benefit, employment, tax and other federal and state laws. Former Chair of the American Bar Association’s Managed Care & Insurance Section, Ms. Stamer is highly regarded legal advisor, policy advocate, author and speaker recognized both nationally and internationally for her more than 20 years of work assisting U.S. public and private employers, health care providers, health insurers, and a broad range of other clients to respond to these and other health care, employee benefit and workforce public policy, regulatory and compliance and risk management concerns within the U.S. as well as internationally. Her work includes extensive involvement providing input and assistance about health care, workforce, pensions and social security and other reforms domestically and internationally. In addition to her continuous involvement in U.S. health care, pensions and savings, and workforce policy matters, Ms. Stamer has served as an advisor on these matters internationally. As part of this work, she served as a lead advisor to the Government of Bolivia on its social security reform as well as has provided input on ethics, medical tourism, workforce and other reforms internationally.
Ms. Stamer is a widely published author and popular speaker on health plan and other human resources, employee benefits and internal controls issues. Her work has been featured and published by the American Bar Association, BNA, SHRM, World At Work, Employee Benefit News and the American Health Lawyers Association. Her insights on human resources risk management matters have been quoted in The Wall Street Journal, the Dallas Business Journal, Managed Care Executive, HealthLeaders, Business Insurance, Employee Benefit News and the Dallas Morning News.
Ms. Stamer also serves in a number of professional leadership roles including the leadership council of the ABA Joint Committee on Employee Benefits, Vice Chair of the ABA Real Property, Probate & Trust Section and Employee Benefits & Compensation Group.
If your organization needs assistance with monitoring, assessing, or responding to these or other health care, employee benefit or human resources reforms, please contact Ms. Stamer via e-mail here, or by calling (214) 270-2402. For additional information about the experience, services, publications and involvements of Ms. Stamer specifically or to access some of her many publications, see here.
Additional Resources & Information
We hope that this information is useful to you. For additional information about the experience, services, publications and involvements of Ms. Stamer specifically or to access some of her many publications, see here.
©2009 Cynthia Marcotte Stamer. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
June 3, 2009
On May 28, 2009, the new Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology Program (“ONC”) published a Federal Register Notice and Request for Comments (the “Notice”) that describes the program ONC proposes to use to establish “Regional Extension Centers” to assist health care providers seeking to adopt and become meaningful users of health information technology under Title XIII of Division A and Title IV of Division B (the “HITECH Act”) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“ARRA”). The deadline for commenting on the Notice is 5 p.m. on June 11, 2009.
The HITECH Act directs the ONC to establish Health Information Technology Regional Extension Centers to provide technical assistance and disseminate best practices and other information to providers to support and accelerate efforts to adopt, implement and effectively utilize electronic health records and other health information technology to improve the quality and value of American health care. ARRA appropriates a total of $2 billion in discretionary funding, in addition to incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid programs for providers’ adoption and meaningful use of certified electronic health record technology.
The Notice describes how ONC plans to establish the Regional Health Program and their goals. It also includes information and addresses needed to submit comments on this draft program description for the regional centers program. To review the Notice online, click on the following link: Federal Register Notice.
More Information
We hope you found this information helpful. If you are interested in commenting on the Notice or assistance with other aspects of the HITECH Act or other health care privacy or technology related laws, or wishes to inquire about services and experience of Cynthia Marcotte Stamer, please Ms. Stamer at Cstamer@CTTLegal.com or telephone her at 214.270.2402.
If you or some that you know would like to register to receive these updates and other helpful information on HIPAA and other health care and human resources risk management matters, please be sure that we have your current contact information including your preferred e-mail by registering at and/or sign up to receive the Solutions Law Press Health Care & IT Updates at https://slphealthcareupdate.wordpress.com. To learn more about Cynthia Marcotte Stamer and/or access some of her many HIPAA and other publications, see here. For important information concerning this resource, see here.
©Cynthia Marcotte Stamer. All rights reserved.
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Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
May 26, 2009
Health care providers and other parties covered by the False Claims Act, 31 U.S.C. § 3729 (FCA), now face expanded whistleblower and other liability under amendments to the FCA enacted under the “Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009”(FERA). The amendments increase the likelihood both that whistleblowers will turn in health care providers and other individuals and organizations that file false claims in violation of the FCA and the liability that violators may incur for that misconduct.
Signed into law by President Obama last Wednesday (May 20, 2009), FERA immediately upon enactment:
- Amends the whistleblower protections afforded to employees, contractors and agents who suffer retaliation for taking lawful efforts to stop violations of the FCA and to make it easier for those individuals to pursue retaliation claims;
- Expands liability under for making false or fraudulent claims to the federal government under the FCA;
- Applies liability under the FCA for presenting a false or fraudulent claim for payment or approval (currently limited to such a claim presented to an officer or employee of the federal government); and
- Requires persons who violate such Act to reimburse the federal government for the costs of a civil action to recover penalties or damages
Concurrent with President Obama’s signature of FERA into law, the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health & Human Services (HHS) jointly announced the expansion of federal health care fraud enforcement efforts. On May 20, 2009, HHS and DOJ announced their activation of a new interagency team to combat health care fraud highlights the increasing need for health care providers and health plans to review and tighten their practices for dealing with Medicare and other federal programs to survive scrutiny under federal health care fraud initiatives. Coupled with FERA and the already significant increase in federal health care fraud detection and enforcement activities in recent years and a proposed 50 percent increase in funding for these activities included in President Obama’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget, health care providers and payers must be prepared to defend their dealing with Medicare, Medicaid and other federal health care programs.
The expanded protections afforded under FERA to whistleblowers and others suffering retaliation for opposing or reporting illegal actions can be expected to serve as a key tool in these efforts. These new retaliation safeguards are designed further increase the likelihood that employees and other insiders will help government officials ferret out false claims and other fraud. Specifically with regard to retaliatory action claims Section 4(d) of FERA amends 31 U.S.C.§ 3730(h) to provide for the recovery of “all relief necessary to make that employee, contractor, or agent whole” where that individual is discharged, demoted, suspended, threatened, harassed, or in any other manner discriminated against in the terms and conditions of employment because of lawful acts he does or takes on behalf of an individual in furtherance of other efforts to stop a violation of the FCA.
FERA expressly provides that relief to victims of retaliation will include “reinstatement with the same seniority status that employee, contractor, or agent would have had but for the discrimination, 2 times the amount of back pay, interest on the back pay, and compensation for any special damages sustained as a result of the discrimination, including litigation costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees.”
The FERA amendments to the FCA, the new TEAMS enforcement effort announced simultaneously with its signature into law mean that health care industry organizations and others covered by the FCA must implement appropriate fraud prevention, detection, redress and other procedures to help defend against possible FCA or other health care fraud claims and investigations.
The attorneys at Curran Tomko Tarski, LLC have extensive experience representing and advising health industry and other clients against FCA and other federal health care and fraud laws.
For More Information
We hope that this information is useful to you. If you need assistance with auditing or defending health care fraud concerns or other health care compliance, risk management, transactions or operations concerns, please contact Curran Tomko Tarski LLP Partners Cynthia Marcotte Stamer at (214) 270-2402, CStamer@CTTLegal.com; Michael T. Tarski at (214) 270-1420 or MTarski@CTTLegal.com; Edwin J. Tomko at (214) 270-1405 or ETomko@CTTLegal.com.
You can review other recent health care and internal controls resources and additional information about the health industry and white collar experience of the Curran Tomko Tarski LLP attorneys at http://www.CTTLegal.com. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail – by creating or updating your profile at CTTLegal.com or e-mailing this information to CStamer@CTTLegal.com.
Leave a Comment » | Anti-KickBack, ARRA, Construction, Corporate Compliance, Doctor, Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Grants, Health Care, Health Care Fraud, Health Care Provider, Health Care Reform, Health Plan, Health Policy, Hospital, OCR, OIG, Physician, Prescription Drugs, Reimbursement, Stark | Tagged: Antitrust, ARRA, Bid Rigging, Construction, Corporate Compliance, Data Security, Doctor, Economic Aid, Employer, false claims act, Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Fraud, Health Care, Health Care Provider, Health Care Reform, Health Care Reimbursement, Health Insurance, Health Plans, Health Policy, Hospital, Identity Theft, Medicare, Medicare Part B, Nonprofits, PBMs, Physician, Physicians, Prescription Drugs, public health, Reimbursement, retaliation, Retalitory Discharge, Whistleblower | Permalink
Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
May 26, 2009
Health care organizations, health plans and regulars increasingly point to gainsharing and pay-for-performance strategies as key to securing needed key physician buy-in and performances to achieve desired health care quality and cost objectives. Using physician gainsharing to promote desired performances within the bounds of the law without undesirable side effects involves more than staying within the STARK exceptions and anti-kickback safe harbors.
Curran, Tomko Tarski, LLP attorney Cynthia Marcotte Stamer will discuss key strategies and processes for designing and administering legally defensible pay-for-performance and other gainsharing arrangements that promote desired outcomes in operation at the Dallas Bar Association Health Law Section meeting on June 17, 2009.
Former Chair of the ABA Health Law Section Managed Care & Insurance Interest Group, attorney and author Cynthia Marcotte Stamer is nationally and internationally recognized for her legal work, publications and programs, and advocacy on health industry performance management and other health industry matters. Ms. Stamer works extensively with health care organizations, managed care and health insurance organizations, governments and others to manage performance and legal risks. Board Certified in Labor & Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Ms. Stamer combines her more than 22 years of health industry regulatory and risk management experience with an in-depth knowledge of workforce management and regulation to help clients manage performance and legal and operational risks. Her experience includes advising public and private health industry clients domestically and internationally on a wide range of matters. A widely published author and popular speaker, Ms. Stamer’s insights on health industry matters also are quoted in HealthLeaders, Managed Care Executive, the Wall Street Journal and many other national popular, business and industry publications.
Ms. Stamer is scheduled to begin her remarks at Noon on June 17, 2009 at the offices of the Dallas Bar Association located at 2101 Ross Avenue, Dallas, Texas 75201. For additional information, call the Dallas Bar Association at 214-220-7400 or see http://www.dallasbar.org.
Leave a Comment » | Anti-KickBack, Doctor, Health Care, Health Care Fraud, Health Care Provider, Health Care Reform, Health Plan, Health Policy, HIPAA, Hospital, Licensing, Medical Licensure, Medical Malpractice, Medicare Advantage, OCR, OIG, Peer Review, Physician, Physician Licensing, Public Policy, Reimbursement, Stark | Tagged: Antitrust, Corporate Compliance, Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Gainsharing, Health Care Policy, Health Care Provider, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, Health Policy, Hospital, Managed Care, Medicare, Medicare Part B, Pay-For-Performance, PBMs, Physician, Physicians, Prescription Drugs, Public Policy, Reimbursement | Permalink
Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
May 20, 2009
Lead DOJ Health Care Fraud Enforcer Speaks In Dallas Tomorrow
The joint announcement today (May 20, 2009) by the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health & Human Services (HHS) of a new interagency team to combat health care fraud highlights the increasing need for health care providers and health plans to review and tighten their practices for dealing with Medicare and other federal programs to survive scrutiny under federal health care fraud initiatives. Houston and Detroit are targeted for the attention of a new Strike Force.
Participants attending tomorrow’s Dallas Health Industry Council Southwest Healthcare Transaction Conference will get to hear the latest about these and other federal health care fraud prevention and enforcement activities from one of its key players. The Justice Department’s lead federal health care fraud prosecutor, John “Jay” S. Darden, the U.S. Department of Justice Assistant Chief for Healthcare Fraud is scheduled to provide an update on these and other federal regulatory and enforcement activities affecting health care transactions when he speaks at the Conference tomorrow afternoon at the Omni Mandalay Hotel Dallas at Las Colinas at 1:30 p.m.
Attorney General Eric Holder and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the creation of the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), to combat Medicare fraud and the expansion of Strike Force team operations to Detroit and Houston. Medicare Fraud Strike Forces, currently in operation in South Florida and Los Angeles, fight Medicare fraud on a targeted local level. Statements made by Secretary Sebelius and Attorney General Holder in connection with the announcement of HEAT and the Strike Force Expansion make clear that the Obama Administration views health care fraud enforcement and prevention as a key element of its efforts to control health care costs.
The HEAT team will include senior officials from DOJ and HHS who will build upon and strengthen existing programs to combat fraud while also investing new resources and technology to prevent fraud, waste and abuse before it happens. Efforts will include the expansion of joint DOJ-HHS Medicare Fraud Strike Force teams that have been successfully fighting fraud in South Florida and Los Angeles.
Established in 2007, these Strike Force teams have a proven record of success using a “data-driven” approach to identify unexplainable billing patterns and investigating these providers for possible fraudulent activity. The Medicare Fraud Strike Force team operating in South Florida has already convicted 146 defendants and secured $186 million in criminal fines and civil recoveries. After the success of operations in South Florida, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force expanded in May 2008 to phase two in Los Angeles, where 37 defendants have been charged with criminal health care fraud offenses. To date in the Los Angeles cases, more than $55 million has been ordered in restitution to the Medicare program.
In addition to health care fraud enforcement and prosecution, HHS and DOJ also view prevention as critical to reforming the system. Therefore, in addition to investigating and prosecuting fraud, the HEAT team will also focus critical resources on preventing fraud from occurring in the first place. These efforts are expected to include:
- Drawing from demonstration projects by the HHS Inspector General and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that have focused on suppliers of durable medical equipment (DME) including increasing site visits to potential suppliers to prevent imposters from posing as legitimate DME providers.
- Increasing training for providers on Medicare compliance, offering providers the resources and the knowledge they need to help identify and prevent fraud.
- Improving data sharing between CMS and law enforcement to help identify patterns that lead to fraud.
- Strengthening program integrity activities to monitor and ensure Medicare Parts C (Medicare Advantage plans) and D (prescription drug programs) compliance and enforcement.
The Attorney General and the HHS Secretary also called on the American people to visit a new Web site http://www.hhs.gov/stopmedicarefraud or call 1-800-HHS-TIPS (1-800-447-8477) to report suspected Medicare fraud.
The HEAT Team and Strike Force activities are part of a broader emphasis in the enforcement of federal health care fraud laws. President Obama’s proposed Fiscal Year 2010 budget seeks to further increase funding for fraud prevention and enforcement by investing $311 million — a 50 percent increase from 2009 funding — to strengthen program integrity activities within the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The Obama Administration anticipates that all combined, the anti-fraud efforts in the President’s budget could save $2.7 billion over five years by improving oversight and stopping fraud in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, including the Medicare Advantage and Medicare prescription drug programs.
For More Information
We hope that this information is useful to you. If you need assistance responding to concerns about the matters discussed in this publication or other health care concerns, wish to obtain information about arranging for training or presentations by Ms. Stamer, wish to suggest a topic for a future program or update, or wish to request other information or materials, please contact Ms. Stamer via telephone at (214) 270-2402 or via e-mail to cstamer@CTTLegal.com.
You can review other recent updates and other publications by Ms. Stamer and other helpful health care resources and additional information about Ms. Stamer and her experience, see Stamer Health Industry Experience. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail- by creating or updating your profile at here or by registering to participate in the Solutions Law Press Health Care Update blog at Health Care Update Blog. For important information concerning this communication click here. If you do not wish to receive these updates in the future, send an e-mail with the word “Remove” in the Subject to support@SolutionsLawyer.net.
Leave a Comment » | Anti-KickBack, ARRA, ARRA Funding, Corporate Compliance, Doctor, Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Health Care, Health Care Fraud, Health Care Provider, Health Care Reform, Health Policy, Hospital, Medicare Advantage, OCR, OIG, Physician, Prescription Drugs, Privacy, Reimbursement, Stark | Tagged: Corporate Compliance, Federal Sentencing Guidelines, Fraud, Health Care Reform, Health Care Reimbursement, Health Insurance, Health Policy, HHS, Hospital, Medicare, Medicare Part B, Physician, Physicians, Prescription Drugs, public health, Public Policy, Reimbursement | Permalink
Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
May 2, 2009
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today (May 1, 2009) proposed the fiscal year (FY) 2010 policies and payment rates for inpatient services furnished to people with Medicare by both acute care hospitals and long-term care hospitals. Interested persons have until June 30 to submit comments to CMS. CMS plans to finalize the rule by August 1, 2009.
The proposed rule placed on display at the Federal Register today and available for review at www.archives.gov/federal-register/public-inspection/index.html would apply to approximately 3,500 acute care hospitals paid under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS), and 400 long-term care hospitals paid under the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS), beginning with discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2009. The proposed payment rates are based on the most recently available data and are subject to revision in the final rule to reflect more current data.
In today’s announcement, CMS proposes:
- To update acute care hospital rates by 2.1 percent for inflation less an adjustment of 1.9 percentage points to remove the effect of increases in aggregate payments due to changes in hospital coding practices that do not reflect increases in patient’s severity of illness.
- To update long-term care hospital rates by 2.4 percent for inflation less an adjustment of 1.8 percentage points to account for changes in documentation and coding practices that do not reflect increases in patient’s severity of illness.
Beginning October 1, 2008, Medicare adopted a new classification system for general acute and long term care hospitals to better recognize severity of illness and the cost of treating Medicare patients. According to the announcement, hospitals changed their documentation and coding of patient diagnoses under the new system in a manner that CMS states leads to an increase in aggregate payments without corresponding growth in actual patient severity. CMS says the proposed documentation and coding adjustments help ensure that estimated aggregate payments to these hospitals under the new classification systems would not increase solely as a result of the changes to the classification system and hospital coding practices.
The Medicare Actuary found based on analysis of 2008 data that additional coding that did not reflect actual changes in the severity of patients’ illnesses increased total payments under IPPS by 2.5 percent in FY 2008 and will further increase total payments in FY 2009. Based on current estimates, the Medicare Actuary estimates that total adjustments of approximately 8.5 percent would have to be made to the acute care hospital rates to address changes in hospitals’ coding practices, including the increase in FY 2008 payments and the estimated increase in FY 2009 payments. CMS is proposing a prospective adjustment of 1.9 percentage points for FY 2010, which means additional adjustments of approximately 6.6 percentage points, will be needed in FY 2011 and FY 2012. CMS is requesting public comment on whether to apply a different documentation and coding adjustment than the one being proposed for FY 2010.
Under current Medicare law, hospitals that successfully report the 2010 quality measures included in the Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update (RHQDAPU) program will get the full update. Hospitals that do not participate in the quality reporting program will get the update less two percentage points. Ninety-seven percent of participating hospitals received the full update last year. The proposed rule adds four new measures for which hospitals must submit data under the RHQDAPU program to receive the full market basket update. Two of these measures are additions to the existing Surgical Care Improvement Project (SCIP) measure set, and CMS believes that the other two measures will promote hospital participation in nursing-sensitive care and stroke care registries.
CMS is also proposing changes to regulations affecting payment adjustments to teaching hospitals (hospitals that offer graduate medical education programs), and disproportionate share hospitals (hospitals that provide care to a disproportionate share of low income patients), and to clarify the regulations implementing the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). In addition, the proposed rule describes five applications for new technology add-on payments and CMS’ preliminary findings about those technologies.
For More Information
We hope that this information is useful to you. If you need assistance responding to concerns about the matters discussed in this publication or other health care concerns, wish to obtain information about arranging for training or presentations by Ms. Stamer, wish to suggest a topic for a future program or update, or wish to request other information or materials, please contact Ms. Stamer via telephone at (214) 270-2402 or via e-mail to cstamer@CTTLegal.com.
You can review other recent updates and other publications by Ms. Stamer and other helpful health care resources and additional information about Ms. Stamer and her experience, see Stamer Health Industry Experience. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail- by creating or updating your profile at here or by registering to participate in the Solutions Law Press Health Care Update blog at Health Care Update Blog. For important information concerning this communication click here. If you do not wish to receive these updates in the future, send an e-mail with the word “Remove” in the Subject to support@SolutionsLawyer.net.
Leave a Comment » | Doctor, Health Care, Health Care Provider, Hospital, Reimbursement | Tagged: Doctor, Health Care Provider, Hospital, Long Term Care Hospital, Medicare, Medicare Part B, Physicians, Reimbursement | Permalink
Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
May 1, 2009
CMS Plans To Seek Recovery
As part of its continuing emphasis on audit and enforcement of federal health care program reimbursement and fraud rules, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced results of two regional audits. In both cases, OIG reported finding substantial overpayments, which it recommended should be recovered from billing providers.
In its Review of High-Dollar Payments For Services Processed By Wisconsin Physicians Service for Period January 1, 2004 Through December 31, 2006; where OIG found of the 100 sampled high-dollar payments that Wisconsin Physicians Service (WPS) made to Medicare Part B providers for services provided during calendar years (CY) 2004 through 2006, 77 were appropriate. The 23 remaining payments included net overpayments totaling $118,000, of which $96,000 for 20 payments had not been refunded at the start of our audit. Based on the sample results for our 3-year audit period, we estimated that WPS made 402 overpayments totaling $2.06 million to providers in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin for Part B services. Based on these findings, OIG recommended that WPS (1) recover the $96,000 in identified overpayments, (2) review the 1,647 remaining high-dollar payments with potential overpayments estimated at $1.9 million ($2.06 million less $118,000 overpaid) and work with the providers that claimed these services to recover any overpayments, (3) consider reviewing high-dollar payments made for services provided after CY 2006 and recover any additional overpayments, and (4) improve internal controls related to manual claim processing. In written comments on our draft report, WPS described corrective actions that it had taken or planned to take to implement our recommendations.
In its Review of Interrupted Stays At Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities For Calendar Years 2004 and 2005, OIG reported finding inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) did not always bill correctly for interrupted stays with discharge dates during calendar years 2004 and 2005. OIG reports its nationwide computer match showed that 448 IRFs billed incorrectly for 986 interrupted stays during that period. If a Medicare inpatient is discharged from an IRF and returns to the same IRF within 3 consecutive calendar days, OIG reported the IRF should combine the interrupted stay into a single claim and receive a single discharge payment.
According to OIG, the correct value of the stays was $17.5 million, rather than the $21.7 million that the IRFs billed. As a result, OIG concluded Medicare made net overpayments of $4.2 million to the IRFs. The payment errors occurred because the IRFs did not have the necessary controls to identify or correctly bill interrupted stays. Additionally, until April 2005, the Common Working File did not have an edit designed to identify all interrupted stays billed as two or more claims. After its adoption, the new Common Working File edit effectively detected incorrectly billed interrupted stays and prevented overpayments to IRFs.
OIG recommended CMS direct its fiscal intermediaries to recover the $4.2 million in net overpayments that our review identified. In its written comments on our draft report, CMS concurred with our recommendation.
Health care providers should evaluate the implications of these and other audit findings and enforcement actions by OIG and CMS on their existing and past billing practices and take corrective acting as appropriate. For assistance with these or other health care compliance and risk management policies, practices or programs, assessing the strength of your controls in addressing these laws or other healthcare laws and regulations, or in addressing other compliance or health care concerns, please contact Cynthia Marcotte Stamer at cstamer@CTTLegal.com or (214) 270- 2402.
You can find more information about health care fraud and other health industry risk management concerns at CynthiaStamer.com.
For More Information
We hope that this information is useful to you. If you need assistance responding to concerns about the matters discussed in this publication or other health care concerns, wish to obtain information about arranging for training or presentations by Ms. Stamer, wish to suggest a topic for a future program or update, or wish to request other information or materials, please contact Ms. Stamer via telephone at (214) 270-2402 or via e-mail to cstamer@CTTLegal.com.
You can review other recent updates and other publications by Ms. Stamer and other helpful health care resources and additional information about Ms. Stamer and her experience, see Stamer Health Industry Experience. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail- by creating or updating your profile at here or by registering to participate in the Solutions Law Press Health Care Update blog at Health Care Update Blog or by joining the join the SLP Health Care Risk Management & Operations Group on linkedin.com. For important information concerning this communication click here. If you do not wish to receive these updates in the future, send an e-mail with the word “Remove” in the Subject to support@SolutionsLawyer.net.
Leave a Comment » | Health Care, Health Care Fraud, Health Care Provider, Physician, Reimbursement | Tagged: Health Care Provider, Hospital, Medicare, Physicians, Reimbursement | Permalink
Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
April 20, 2009
The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) released its latest “Comparison of Third-Quarter 2008 Average Sales Prices and Average Manufacturer Prices: Impact on Medicare Reimbursement for First Quarter 2009″ (the “Report”) on April 17, 2009. The findings are used to help determined Medicare Part B reimbursement rates for prescription drugs. You can review the entire Report at http://www.oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-03-09-00150.pdf.
Mandated by Congress under Section 1847A(d)(2)(B) of the Social Security Act (the Act), the Report reviews the average sales prices (ASP) and average manufacturer prices (AMP) for Medicare Part B prescription drugs to identify the ASPs that exceed AMPs by at least 5 percent. The review also determines the impact of lowering reimbursement amounts for drugs that meet the 5-percent threshold. Pursuant to sections 1847A(d)(3)(A) and (B) of the Act, if OIG finds that the ASP for a drug exceeds the AMP by a certain percentage (currently 5 percent), HHS may disregard the ASP for the drug when setting reimbursement amounts. According to the Report, of the 325 drugs with complete AMP data, OIG found 15 met the 5-percent threshold under the revised ASP payment methodology recently mandated. Twelve of these 15 drugs were previously eligible for price adjustment under the revised methodology, with 2 drugs meeting the 5-percent threshold in each of the past 7 quarters. OIG estimates that, if reimbursement amounts for all 15 drugs had been based on 103 percent of the AMPs, Medicare expenditures would have been reduced by almost three-quarters of a million dollars in the first quarter of 2009. The Report also states that of the 129 drugs with only partial AMP data in the third quarter of 008, 21 had ASPs that exceeded the AMPs by at least 5 percent in the third quarter of 2008.
Under the revised methodology, 12 of the 21 drugs would have met the 5 percent threshold in at least 2 of the past 7 quarters, dating back to the first quarter of 2007. OIG estimates that Medicare expenditures would have been reduced by $9 million during the first quarter of 2009 if reimbursement amounts for all 21 drugs had been based on 103 percent of the AMPs.
If you have questions about the Report, Medicare reimbursement or compliance or any other health care compliance and risk management policies, practices or programs, assessing the strength of your controls in addressing these laws or other healthcare laws and regulations, or in addressing other compliance or health care concerns, please contact Cynthia Marcotte Stamer at cstamer@CTTLegal.com or (214) 270- 2402. For More Information We hope that this information is useful to you. If you need assistance responding to concerns about the matters discussed in this publication or other health care concerns, wish to obtain information about arranging for training or presentations by Ms. Stamer, wish to suggest a topic for a future program or update, or wish to request other information or materials, please contact Ms. Stamer via telephone at (214) 270-2402 or via e-mail to cstamer@CTTLegal.com. You can review other recent updates and other publications by Ms. Stamer and other helpful health care resources and additional information about Ms. Stamer and her experience, see Stamer Health Industry Experience. If you or someone else you know would like to receive future updates about developments on these and other concerns, please be sure that we have your current contact information – including your preferred e-mail- by creating or updating your profile at here or by registering to participate in the Solutions Law Press Health Care Update blog at slphealthcareupdate.wordpress.com. For important information concerning this communication click here. If you do not wish to receive these updates in the future, send an e-mail with the word “Remove” in the Subject to support@SolutionsLawyer.net.
Leave a Comment » | Doctor, Health Care, Health Plan, Hospital, OIG, Prescription Drugs, Reimbursement | Tagged: Health Care, Medicare, Medicare Part B, PBMs, Prescription Drugs, Reimbursement | Permalink
Posted by Cynthia Marcotte Stamer
slphealthcareupdate.com 