Archive for March 2017
OIG Opinion Applies Access to Care Exception
Can a hospital system provide free or reduced-cost lodging and meals to certain financially needy patients, or would such an arrangement (a) constitute either a violation of the federal anti-kickback statute or (b) constitute grounds for the imposition of civil monetary penalties because it would violate a provision of the Social Security Act that prohibits…
Read MoreMoving From SSN to MBI: The Time to Prepare is Now
In just about a year from now the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will start mailing out new Medicare cards to beneficiaries that will eliminate the use of Social Security Numbers, replacing them with Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBI). This change is pursuant to the 2015 passage of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization…
Read MoreBacklog Backlash: HHS Says Clearing Medicare Backlog Not Possible
Just two months after a federal judge told the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to clear through a huge backlog of Medicare claims appeals comes word from the agency that not only will it not be able to comply, but that the backlog will actually grow by the time it’s supposed to have…
Read MoreNew Corporate Compliance Guidance Issued by DOJ
If you had any doubt that the U.S. Department of Justice had plans to back off its crackdown on healthcare fraud under then new Trump administration, all you need to do is look at its recently released guidance on corporate compliance to understand that it will continue to keep the pressure on. Titled Evaluation of…
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