On January 14, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) modified their policy regarding the disclosure of physician payment information under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Effective March 18, 2014, CMS will now evaluate requests for individual physician payment information on a case-by-case basis. CMS Principal Deputy…
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released an advisory opinion that highlights long-standing OIG guidance as to how industry stakeholders can contribute to independent, bona fide charitable assistance programs. In this case, the patient assistance program (“Requestor”) provides grants to patients suffering…
On Wednesday, February 12, at 10:00 am EST, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA) will hold a Medicare Appellant Forum in the Cohen Auditorium of the Wilbur J. Cohen building at 330 Independence Ave. SW, Washington DC, 20024. The purpose of…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently released a favorable advisory opinion, CMS AO-2013-03, that interprets the “whole hospital” exception to the physician self-referral prohibition commonly known as the Stark Law. CMS determined that the proposed arrangement, which adds a new observation unit and 14 observation beds to…
On November 12, 2013, CMS held a third open door forum (ODF) discussing the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS)/Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Final Rule (CMS-1599-F). As of November 4, 2013, the patient status probe review period that was previously applicable through December 31, 2013 has been…
Tomorrow from 1:00-2:00 pm Eastern Time, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will hold a third open door forum (ODF) to discuss the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS)/Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Final Rule (CMS-1599-F). On August 2, 2013, CMS issued the FY 2014 IPPS/LTCH…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently issued a report addressing increased Medicare spending on polysomnography services. The OIG initiated this study in response to growing concerns of Medicare prescriber fraud. A polysomnography is a type of sleep study that diagnoses sleep…
On September 30, 2013, Federal Judge Margaret Seymour of the United States District Court for the District of South Carolina ordered South Carolina’s Tuomey Healthcare System to pay $276.8 million for violating both Stark law and False Claims Act (FCA) provisions; however, this ordered amount was subsequently reduced by $39…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a national provider Comparative Billing Report (CBR) focused on spinal orthotics and ordering providers. This CBR was conducted in response to an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report on inappropriate Medicare payments for orthotics. The Medicare Durable Medical Equipment (DME)…
Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood of the Eastern District of Michigan sentenced 53-year-old Michigan resident Muhammad Shahab to 50 months in prison and three years of supervised release for perpetrating almost $11 million in Medicare fraud between August 2007 and October 2009. Shahab and his co-defendants…