flag_160540827President-elect Donald Trump has said repealing the ACA will be a priority for his administration. On Dec. 6, 2016, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) announced that a measure to repeal parts of the ACA will be the first item the Senate considers when it convenes on Jan. 3, 2017.
Continue Reading Slow Repeal of the ACA and Its Effect on Health Systems

gavel-scales2013%20052[A New York district court issued the first judicial opinion Monday, Aug. 3 on the Affordable Care Act’s “60-day rule,” which requires that a Medicare or Medicaid overpayment be reported and returned within 60 days of the date on which the overpayment was “identified.” The decision by Judge Edgardo Ramos provided a definition of what it means to “identify” an overpayment and thus begin the 60-day time period in which overpayments must be reported and returned. Given that the 60-day rule maintains that any person who knowingly fails to comply with this obligation within the 60-day timeframe has violated the False Claims Act (“FCA”), the potential implications of Judge Ramos’s decision are significant.
Continue Reading District court interprets ‘identification’ of overpayment under 60-day rule

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the New York State Attorney General intervened in a federal False Claims Act (FCA) case on June 27, 2014, accusing Mount Sinai Health System of failing to report and return Medicaid overpayments within 60 days of identifying them. See U.S. ex rel Kane v. Healthfirst, Inc., et al., No. 11-2325 (S.D.N.Y). This case is one of the first examples of litigation involving “the 60-day repayment provision” under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
Continue Reading DOJ intervenes in first False Claim Act case involving ACA ’60-day repayment provision’

Pursuant to the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently adopted a final rule implementing $1.1 billion in cuts to the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) program in 2014 and 2015.  The new rule reduces Medicaid DSH payments by $500 million in 2014 and $600 million in 2015. 

There are several

Harvey Tettlebaum, a Husch Blackwell attorney specializing in healthcare law with an emphasis in post-acute care, contributed an article to the June 2013 issue of the Journal of Health & Life Sciences Law titled “Quality Measurements, Payment, and the Law: Disincentives to Physician-Patient Discussions of End-of-Life Care.”  Here is the abstract of the article.

The Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services released a report last week showing that the government has achieved the highest return on investment in the 16-year history of the Health Care Fraud and Abuse (HCFAC) Program.  According to the report, for every dollar spent on healthcare-related fraud and abuse investigations in the last three years, the government recovered $7.90.

The government recovered $4.2 billion from healthcare fraud enforcement efforts in FY 2012, up from $4.1 billion in FY 2011.  The government continues to focus on reducing fraud and waste in the healthcare system.

“This was a record-breaking year for the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services in our collaborative effort to crack down on health care fraud and protect valuable taxpayer dollars,” said Attorney General Holder.  “In the past fiscal year, our relentless pursuit of health care fraud resulted in the disruption of an array of sophisticated fraud schemes and the recovery of more taxpayer dollars than ever before.  This report demonstrates our serious commitment to prosecuting health care fraud and safeguarding our world-class health care programs from abuse.”

The government also touted the use of fraud-fighting tools authorized by the Affordable Care Act including enhanced screenings and enrollment requirements, increased data sharing across the government, expanded recovery efforts for overpayments and greater oversight of private insurance abuses.  Screening of all 1.5 million Medicare-enrolled providers through the new Automated Provider Screening system began in FY 2012.  The report states that nearly 150,000 ineligible providers have already been eliminated from Medicare’s billing system. 
Continue Reading Government Announces Record-Breaking Recoveries of Healthcare Fraud Money

On January 31, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the health care organizations selected to participate in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative (“BPCI”).  BPCI was created by the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) healthcare reform law to assess whether bundling payments for services in a single episode of care can

In less than two weeks, CMS will begin reducing a hospital’s Medicare reimbursements by as much as 1% if the hospital’s readmission rates are too high.  This reduction is part of a program authorized by the Affordable Care Act called the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.  You can read more about the program CMS’s website.

Last week, Paul Ryan accepted the nomination for Vice President.  In his acceptance speech, he cited “Obamacare” as the greatest threat to Medicare, but many hospitals view the expansion of coverage for low-income individuals positively.  More and more community hospitals are urging their state governments to accept payments for expanded Medicaid programs under the

With the passage of the ACA, the voluntary nature of compliance programs is about to change. Smaller healthcare organizations and other ancillary providers who have previously not established compliance programs will now be required to adopt formal programs.  The ACA mandates providers and suppliers participating in federal health care programs to implement compliance programs with “core elements” as a condition of enrollment.

The HHS Secretary is responsible for setting a timeline to implement the new “core elements” for each health care sector and then setting a timeline for providers to adopt compliance programs.  Details regarding the extent of the program have not yet been described or published.  Skilled nursing facilities are the first providers required to implement an effective compliance program by March 23, 2013.

Our Insight.  Your Advantage.  By doing the work now, healthcare organizations can get ahead and avoid surprises when HHS eventually publishes the mandatory compliance program rules for other healthcare sectors. Many in the healthcare industry anticipate the OIG’s voluntary compliance program guidance will serve as an example to HHS as it determines which compliance program elements shall be required.  As you prepare your compliance programs, Continue Reading What Healthcare Organizations can do to Prepare for the Mandatory Compliance Condition of Enrollment