Monthly Archives: January 2016
Medicare RAC Audits Are Spreading in 2016
By now, however unwanted, health care providers are intimately acquainted with RAC audits. If you are one of the lucky providers who has not had the pleasure of undergoing a RAC audit and accept Medicare/caid, then you should go buy lottery tickets.
For Medicare providers, the RAC audits have been targeted to only Parts A and B. However, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposes to expand the RAC audits to Medicare Advantage. CMS has published the proposal and seeks comments by February 1, 2016.
I am reminded of the Bubonic Plague from the 14th century.
As these Medicare audits continue to spread nationwide, to more CPT codes, and to more health care services, providers are warned to wash your hands. It is the best way to prevent acquiring a Medicare audit.
So far, there is no indication when the RAC audits for Medicare Advantage will begin. However, remember that RAC auditors are financially incentivized to audit and find errors. Thus, those RAC auditors will be chomping at the bit to get going.
Wouldn’t you if you were compensated 9-13% of amount found to be owed back to the state?
More to come…
Embezzlement at MCO Eastpointe and the Freedom of Information Act
How many times have I blogged about the unsupervised, unharnessed actions of the managed care organizations (MCOs) in our State, which happen to be managing billions of our tax dollars for Medicaid behavioral health care? These MCOs, which are in the process of consolidating to create even larger MCOs and to handle even more tax dollar money, are running rampant and unsupervised by the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). See blog. And blog.
DHHS is the single state agency charged with managing Medicaid for NC. According to federal law, the single state agency may not delegate certain duties. Our 1915 b/c Waiver allows DHHS to waive some duties related to behavioral health, but not all. For example, it is, ultimately, DHHS’ duty to ensure that our Medicaid recipients have access to care.
It is, ultimately, DHHS’ duty to ensure that the MCOs are following the law.
However, recently, that duty was picked up by the State Bureau of Investigation (SBI). Thank goodness someone is reviewing the MCO’s books!
SBI arrested former Eastpointe CFO William Robert Canupp on December 16, 2015, for nine charges of financial fraud and embezzlement. Eastpointe is one of our MCOs and manages behavioral health care for Medicaid and state-funded programs in 12 counties. These allegations of fraud and embezzlement are from when Canupp worked at Eastpointe.
This recent arrest demonstrates a real need for accountability at the MCOs. While Eastpointe and the other MCOs are terminating health provider contracts and denying/reducing services, who is reviewing these decisions. Apparently, not DHHS.
What can you do?
As you should know, the MCOs are not private entities. They are agents of the state and receive funding from county, state, and federal funds. In other words, the MCOs manage and spend our tax dollars. Therefore, these entities are liable to us for all expenditures and are subject to the Freedom of Information Act or FOIA. The FOIA allows any one of you to request any financial record, any document showing access to care, any document showing monies spent on actual care versus administrative costs, or any other information you desire and the MCOs must provide it to you.
Here is a link to a sample public records request.
The MCOs are bound by NC General Statute, Chapter 132 and must allow you to examine any requested documents within a reasonable time.
Use the FOIA to get answers!
