Extrapolated audits are no fun, unless you work for a recovery audit contractor (RAC).  You get a Tentative Notice of Overpayment (TNO) that says the auditor reviewed 100 dates of service (DOS), found an overpayment of $1,000, so you owe $1 million dollars.  Oh, and please pay within 30 days or interest will accrue…

North Carolina’s 2nd recovery audit contractor (RAC) is ramping up.  HMS had a slower start than Public Consulting Group (PCG); the Division of Medical Assistance originally announced that HMS would be conducting post-payment reviews last October 2012 in its Medicaid Bulletin.  NC’s 1st RAC, PCG came charging out the gate.  HMS has been a bit slower, but HMS is active now.

HMS is performing post-pay audits on inpatient and outpatient hospital claims, laboratory, specialized outpatient therapy, x-ray and long-term care claims reviews.

According to the December 2013 Medicaid Bulletin, the findings for the first group of automated lab reviews were released in early November 2013.  Additional lab reviews are expected to be completed and findings released by late December 2013.  The post-payment reviews are targeting excessive drug screening.

And specialized therapy service providers, you are next on the list!

How will the providers know the results of an HMS post-payment review? Same way as with PCG.  You will receive a Tentative Notice of Overpayment (TNO) in the mail with some crazy, huge extrapolated amount that you supposedly owe back to the state.

If you receive a TNO, do not panic (too much), take a deep breath and read my blog: “You Received a Tentative Notice of Overpayment, Now What?”

Or “The Exageration of the Tentative Notices of Overpayments.”

Remember, most of the post-payment reviews that I have seen have numerous auditing mistakes on the part of the auditor, such as the auditor applying the more recent clinical coverage policies rather than the clinical coverage policy that was applicable to dates of services audited.

DMA Clinical Policy 1S-4 “Cytogenetic Studies“, for example, was recently revised February 1, 2013.  Obviously, an auditor should not apply the February 1, 2013, policy to a service provided in 2012…but you would not believe how often that happens!

So what can you do to be prepared?  Well, realistically, you cannot be prepared for audit ineptness.

But you can be proactive.  Contact your insurance policy to determine whether your liability insurance covers attorneys’ fees for regulatory audits.  It is important to be proactive and determine whether your insurance company will cover attorneys’ fees prior to undergoing an audit.  Because if you find out that your liability insurance does not cover attorneys’ fees, then you can upgrade your insurance to cover attorneys’ fees.  I promise, it is way better to pay additional premiums than get hit with $25,000+ bill of attorneys’ fees.  Plus, if you wait until you are audited to determine whether your liability insurance covers attorneys’ fees and you realize it does not, then the insurance company may not allow you to upgrade your insurance.  The audit may be considered a pre-existing condition.

So…proactiveness  is imperative.  But you can always move to West Virginia…

In a survey of 18 states conducted by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and published August 29, 2013, NCSL determined that 10 states use extrapolations with the RAC audits, 7 do not and 1 intends to use extrapolations in the future. (No idea why NCSL did not survey all 50 states).

Delaware, Maryland, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin do not use extrapolations in Medicaid RAC audits.

So moving to West Virginia is an option too…