HHS

Amniotic Fluid / Amniotic Membrane Tissue Audits, Investigations and Prosecutions are Continuing to Climb in 2022

(August 4, 2022): Over the past year, we have seen a significant increase in the number of Medicare administrative audits, False Claims Act investigations and criminal prosecutions by the Department of Justice (DOJ), related to the billing of allogeneic (harvested from someone else) stem cell products. Medicare and Medicaid claims stemming from amniotic liquid and […]

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Michael Cook appointed to serve on Virginia’s Medicaid Policy Council

(January 2, 2018):  Congratulations to our very own Michael Cook who has been appointed to serve on the Virginia Medicaid Policy Council for Health and Human Resources. In this role, The Council’s role is to provide recommendations on policy issues involving the programs operated by the Department of Health and Human Resources as part of the transition.

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HHS Issues Final Rule to Address Record High Medicare Appeals Backlog

(January 20, 2017): The Medicare appeals backlog has reached its all-time worst. If you’re a healthcare provider or supplier waiting for a hearing before an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at the Office of Medicare Hearings and Medicare Appeals (OMHA) – the third level of the Medicare appeals process – you’ve likely been waiting years to

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2014 HCFAC Report — $27.8 Billion Recovered for Medicare

(March 23, 2015): Last week, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that they had recovered more than $27.8 billion to the Medicare Trust Fund due to the efforts of the Health Care Fraud and Abuse Control Program (HCFAC). As set out in the 2014 HCFAC Report, in

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The FY 2016 Budget Proposes Medicare Appeals Process Reforms

(February 27, 2015): On February 2, 2015, President Obama released his fiscal year 2016 budget proposal. This latest proposal affects a significant number of Federal health care programs and includes over $1 trillion allocated to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). More than 85 percent of HHS’s budget is devoted to programs

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Miscoded Evaluation and Management Services Cost Medicare $6.7 Billion

(June 25, 2014) Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently examined medical records from 2010 for claims related to evaluation and management services (E/M services). The results are astounding. OIG determined that Medicare inappropriately paid $6.7 BILLION for E/M services that year due to claims that were

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Top Ten Health Care Compliance Risks for 2011

(December 31, 2010): In case you missed it, Congress, President Obama and the healthcare regulators had a banner year with respect to regulatory activism in 2010. Over the next several weeks we will be releasing a series of articles on our website addressing the compliance risk areas facing your organise dramatic changes and the compliance

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Provider Exclusion Screening / OIG Screening Practices are a Significant Risk

(December 11, 2010): Has your practice conducted exclusion screening / OIG screening on all of you employees?Earlier this week, HHS-OIG announced that it had assessed significant civil monetary penalties against a health care provider that employed seven individuals who the provider “knew or should have known” had been excluded from participation in Federal health care

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Health Care Reform- The Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) And Its Implications on Health Care Providers

(September 14, 2010): As one of the most controversial provisions in the recently enacted health care reform legislation, Congress created the IPAB – a board that is independent from Congress and the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) as a mechanism to control Medicare – and potentially all – health care expenditures.

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HHS-ONC Names EHR Certification Bodies

(September 1, 2010): Earlier this week, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), an organization within the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), has named two entities as EHR Certification Bodies. They include: The Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT), Chicago, Illinois, and

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