Monthly Archives: October 2018
The Courts Order Medicare to Stop Recouping Alleged Overpayments Without Due Process!
New case law supports due process for Medicare providers. As first seen on RACMonitor.
Due process is one of the cornerstones of our society. Due process is the universal guarantee and found in the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which provides “No person shall…be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,” and is applied to all states by the 14th Amendment. From this basic principle flows many legal decisions determining both procedural and substantive rights.
For Medicare and Medicaid providers, however, due process, in the past, has been nonexistent. Imagine that you are accused of owing $5 million to the government. Perhaps it was a CPT® code error. You disagree. You believe that your documentation was proper and that you filed for reimbursement correctly. You appeal the decision that you owe $5 million. You continue conducting business as normal. Suddenly, you realize the government is recouping the $5 million now. Prior to any hearing before a judge. You haven’t been found guilty. What happened to innocent until proven guilty? What happened to due process?
For Medicare appeals there is a five-step appeal process. The law requires the government not to recoup during the first and second levels of appeal. But the first and second levels are jumping through hoops and are not normally successful. It is at the third level – the appeal to an impartial administrative judge – that the alleged recoupments are overturned.
After the second level, according to the black letter of the law, the government can begin recouping the alleged overpayment.
Sadly, in the past, the courts have held that it is proper for the government to recoup reimbursements after the second level. Even though, no hearing has been held before an impartial judge and you haven’t been found guilty of owing the money.
On Sept. 27, 2018, another U.S. District Court in South Carolina has agreed with courts in Texas by granting a provider’s request for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to prevent the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from recouping monies until after Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearings have been held (Accident, Injury and Rehabilitation, PC, c/a No. 4:18-cv-02173, September 27, 2018).
A new trend in favor of providers seems to be arising. This is fantastic news for providers across the country!
Accident, Injury & Rehab, PC found that the ALJ stage of the appellate process is the most important for providers, as it provides the first opportunity for plaintiff to cross examine defendant’s witnesses and examine the evidence used to formulate the statistical sample. According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), 66 percent of Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) denials are reversed by an ALJ (I actually believe the percentage is higher). The court found that plaintiff’s procedural due process rights were violated by premature recoupment. The court granted Accident, Injury & Rehab, PC’s preliminary injunction restraining and enjoining the government from withholding Medicare payments during the appeal process.
When the government starts recouping filing a preliminary injunction has been shown it to be the best course.
In the past, most preliminary injunctions asking the court to order the government to stop recoupments until a hearing was held was dismissed based on jurisdiction. In other words, the courts held that the courts did not have the authority to render an opinion as to recoupments prior to a hearing. Now, however, the trend is turning, and courts are starting to rule in favor of the provider, finding a violation of procedural due process based on a collateral claim exception.
There are four criteria in order to win a preliminary injunction. A party seeking a preliminary injunction must establish all for the following criteria: (1) that the party is likely to succeed on the merits; (2) that the party is likely to suffer irreparable harm in the absence of preliminary injunction; (3) that the balance of the equity tips in the party’s favor; and (4) that injunction is in the public interest.
There is an esoteric legal theory called exhaustion of administrative remedies. So jurisdiction is the question. There are exceptions to the judicial bar. The Supreme Court of United States articulated a collateral claim exception. The Supreme Court permitted a plaintiff to bring a procedural due process claim requesting an evidentiary area hearing before the termination of disability benefits. There are nonwaivable and waivable jurisdictional elements the nonwaivable requirement is that a claim must be presented to the administrative agency. The waivable requirement is that administrative remedies be exhausted.
The Collateral claim exception is when a party brings a claim in federal court when that “constitutional challenge is entirely collateral to its substantive claim of entitlement.”
The new trend in case law is that the courts are finding that the provider’s right to not undergo recoupment during the appeal process is a collateral issue as to the substantive issue of whether the provider owes the money. Therefore, the courts have found jurisdiction as to the collateral issue.
The proverbial ship has sailed. According to courts in Texas and now South Carolina, CMS cannot recoup monies prior to hearings before ALJs. Providers facing large recoupments should file TROs to prevent premature recoupments and to obtain due process.
Safety-Net Hospitals Penalized for Too Many Readmissions – Fair or Not Fair?
Since 2012, Medicare has penalized hospitals for having too many patients end up back in their care within a month. Mind you, these re-admissions are not the hospitals’ fault. Many of the re-admissions are uninsured patients and who are without primary care. Without an alternative, they present back at the hospitals within 30 days. This penalty on hospitals is called the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) and is not without controversy.
For example, if hospitals are not allowed to turn away patients for their lack of ability to pay, then penalizing the hospital for a readmission (who the hospital cannot turn away) seems fundamentally unfair. Imagine someone at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) yelling at you: “You cannot turn away any patients by law! But if you accept a patient for readmission, then you will be penalized!!” The logic is incongruous. The hospital is found in a Catch-22. Damned if they do; damned if they don’t.
The Emergency Medical and Treatment Labor Act (EMTLA) passed by Congress in 1986 explicitly forbids the denial of care to indigent or uninsured patients based on a lack of ability to pay. It also prohibits “patient dumping” a practice in which a hospital orders unnecessary transfers while care is being administered and prohibits the suspension of care once it is initiated.
Even non-emergent care is generally required, depending on the hospital. Public hospitals may not deny patient care based on ability to pay (or lack thereof). Private hospitals may, in non-emergency situations, deny or discontinue care.
The most recent HRRP report, which concentrated on Connecticut hospitals, which will penalize CT hospitals for too many readmissions starting October 1, 2018, shows: 27 of the 29 hospitals evaluated — or 93% — will be penalized in the 2019 fiscal year (Oct. 1, 2018 – Oct. 1, 2019) that began Oct. 1, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of CMS data. $566 million in total penalties will be required, depending on the severity of the violations.
Here is the formula used to determine penalties for readmission within 30 days to a hospital:
No hospital that was audited received the maximum penalty of 3%, but 9 CT hospitals will have their Medicare reimbursements reduced by 1% or more. They are: Waterbury Hospital at 2.19%, Bridgeport Hospital at 2.01%, Bristol Hospital at 1.91%, Manchester Memorial Hospital at 1.74%, Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford Springs at 1.71%, Midstate Medical Center in Meriden at 1.37%, St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport at 1.21%, Griffin Hospital in Derby at 1.17%, and Yale New Haven Hospital at 1.03%.
There is controversy over the HRRP.
Observation status does not count.
Interestingly, what is not evaluated in the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program may be just as important, or more so, than what it is evaluated. -And what is not evaluated in the HRRP has morphed our health care system into a plethora of observation only admissions.
Patients who are admitted under observation status are excluded from the readmission measure. What, pray tell, do you think the result has been because of the observation status being excluded??
- More in-patient admissions?
- More observation status admissions?
- No change?
If you guessed more observation status admissions, then you would be correct.
Most hospitals have developed clinical decision units, which are typically short-stay observation areas designed to care for patients in less than 24-hours. The difference between inpatient and observation status is important because Medicare pays different rates according to each status. Patients admitted under observation status are considered outpatients, even though they may stay in the hospital for several days and receive treatment in a hospital bed. Medicare requires a three-day hospital inpatient stay minimum before it will cover the cost of rehabilitative care in a skilled nursing care center. However, observation stays, regardless of length, do not count toward Medicare’s requirement.
30-Day readmission period is arbitrary.
Why 30-days? If a patient is readmitted on the 30th day, the hospital is penalized. But if the patient is readmitted on Day 31, the hospital is not penalized. There just isn’t a lucid, common sense reason except that 30 is a nice, round number.
The HRRP disproportionately discriminates against hospitals that have high volume of uninsured.
HRRP does not adjust for socioeconomic status. This means that the HRRP may be penalizing hospitals, such as safety-net hospitals, that care for disadvantaged populations.
When other laws, unintentionally or intentionally, discriminate between socioeconomic status, often an association or group brings a class action lawsuit in federal court asking the judge to declare the law unconstitutional due to discrimination. Discrimination can be proven in court by how the law of supply or how the law is written.
Here, the 27 hospitals, which will be receiving penalties for fiscal year 2019, serve a high population of low income patients. The result of which hospitals are getting penalized is an indication of a discriminatory practice, even if it is unintentional.
The Upshot from Knicole:
These hospitals should challenge the HRRP legally. Reimbursements for services render constitute a property right. Usurping this property right without due process may be a violation of our Constitution. For $566 million…there should be a fair fight.
NC Medicaid: Waiver v. Non -Waiver Services – What’s the Difference?
There is a 4.9 year waiting list to receive a spot on the Innovations Waiver. The waiting list is unhelpful when you have a child or adult with severe developmental disabilities who needs Waiver services NOW. What services are available for the disabled who qualify for Waiver services, but have not received a spot on the Innovations Waiver yet?
For children (up to age 20), the alternative to the Innovations Waivers is the Community Alternatives Program for Children (CAP/C) 1915(c) Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver was approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The waiver took effect March 1, 2017.
Here is a breakdown of services offered for the Innovations Waiver versus CAP/C:
| Category | CAP/C Waiver [1] | NC Innovations Waiver [2] |
| Cost limit under waiver | $129,000
(Section 5.7.3) |
$135,000
(Attachment F) |
| Case Management | 80 hours (320 units) per calendar year
(Appendix B) |
|
| Respite | 720 hours/fiscal year
Each day of institutional respite counts as 24 hours towards the annual limit. (Appendix B) |
The cost of respite care for 24 hours cannot exceed the per diem rate for the average community ICF-IID Facility |
| Pediatric Nurse Aide | Type, frequency, tasks and number of hours per day are authorized by the case management entity based on medical necessity.
(Appendix B) |
|
| In-Home Aide | Type, frequency, tasks and number of hours per day are authorized by the case management entity based on medical necessity.
(Appendix B) |
|
| Financial Management Service | Consumer-directed initiation fee must be assessed the first month of enrollment and shall not exceed 4 units (1 hour). Monthly management fees shall be assessed each month and shall not exceed 4 units (1 hour) per month.
(Appendix B) |
Financial Support Services are available and provider directed. |
| Assistive Technology | Included in a combined home and vehicle modification budget of $28,000 per beneficiary per the cycle of the CAP, which is renewed every 5 years.
(Appendix B) |
Limited to $50,000 (ATES and Home Modifications) over the life of the waiver period, 5 years
(Attachment C) |
| Community Transition Services | To transition CAP beneficiaries from 90-day or more institutional setting;
One-time expenses, not to exceed $2,500 over the cycle of the CAP, 5 years. (Appendix B) |
To provide initial set-up expense for adults to facilitate transition from community living;
Life of the waiver limit of $5,000 per beneficiary. (Attachment C) |
| Home Accessibility and Adaptation/Home Modifications | Included in a combined home and vehicle modification budget of $28,000 per beneficiary per the cycle of the CAP, which is renewed every 5 years.
(Appendix B) |
Home modifications are limited to expenditures of $50,000 of supports (ATES, Home Modifications) over the duration of the waiver, 5 years. |
| Goods and Services | Not to exceed $800 annually (July-June)
(Appendix B) |
Not to exceed $2,000 annually
(Attachment C) |
| Training, Education, and Consultative Services/Natural Supports Education | Limited to $500 per fiscal year (July 1-June30)
(Appendix B) |
Reimbursement for class and conferences limited to $1,000 per year
(Attachment C) |
| Vehicle Modification | Included in a combined home and vehicle modification budget of $28,000 per beneficiary per the cycle of the CAP, which is renewed every 5 years.
(Appendix B) |
Limited to $20,000 over the life of the waiver
(Attachment C) |
| Community Living and Support (allowing for a paraprofessional) | Subject to limits on sets of services
(Attachment C)
For adult beneficiaries who live in a private home[3], no more than 84 hours per week for any combination of community networking, day supports, supported employment, personal care, in-home skill-building and/or Community Living and Supports (Attachment D) |
|
| Community Navigator | Provider directed service | |
| Community Networking | Payment for attendance at classes and conferences cannot exceed $1,000 per beneficiary per plan year.
(Attachment C) |
|
| Crisis Services | Crisis Intervention and stabilization Supports may be authorized for periods of up to 14 calendar day increments per event.
Out-of-home Crisis services may be authorized in increments of up to 30 calendar days. (Attachment C)
|
|
| Day Supports (A group, facility-based service that provides assistance to the individual with acquisition, retention or improvement in socialization and daily living skills.)
|
Subject to limits on sets of services
(Attachment C)
For adult beneficiaries who live in a private home, no more than 84 hours per week for any combination of community networking, day supports, supported employment, personal care, in-home skill-building and/or Community Living and Supports (Attachment D) |
|
| Residential Supports (for Group Home or Alternative Family Living) | Subject to limits on sets of services
(Attachment C)
For adult beneficiaries who receive residential supports, no more than 40 hours per week for any combination of community networking, day supports and supported employment services. For child beneficiaries who receive residential supports, during the school year, no more than 20 hours per week for any combination of community networking, day supports and supported employment services. (Attachment D) |
|
| Supported Employment Services (provide assistance with choosing, acquiring, and maintaining a job for beneficiaries 16 and older) | Subject to limits on sets of services
(Attachment C)
For adult beneficiaries who live in a private home, no more than 84 hours per week for any combination of community networking, day supports, supported employment, personal care, in-home skill-building and/or Community Living and Supports (Attachment D) |
|
| Supported Living (flexible partnership that enables a person to live in his own home with support from an agency that provides individualized assistance in a home that is under the control and responsibility of the person | Subject to limits on sets of services
For adult beneficiaries who live in a private home, no more than 84 hours per week for any combination of community networking, day supports, supported employment, personal care, in-home skill-building and/or Community Living and Supports (Attachment D)
Person receiving Supported Living may not also receive Community Living and Supports, Respite Services or Personal Care Services |
[1] See NC Division of Medical Assistance, Clinical Coverage Policy No: 3K-1, Amended Date: March 1, 2018. The CAP/C waiver was renewed by CMS effective March 1, 2017-February 28, 2022.
[2] See NC Division of Medical Assistance, Clinical Coverage Policy No: 8-P, Amended Date: November 1, 2016.
CMS Sets Forth New Proposed Rule to Promote Program Efficiency, Transparency, and Burden Reduction
On September 20, 2018, CMS released a new proposed rule in an effort to reduce the regulatory burden on health care providers. Now we have all heard CMS’ attempts to increase transparency and decrease burden on and for providers. But, usually, it ends up being all talk and no walk. So, I decided to investigate exactly how CMS new proposal purports to make a difference.
The proposals fall under three categories: (1) Proposals that simplify and streamline processes; (2) proposals that reduce the frequency of activities and revise timelines; and (3) proposals that are obsolete, duplicative, or that contain unnecessary requirements.
CMS projects savings of nearly $5.2 billion and a reduction of 53 million hours through 2021. That results in saving 6,000 years of burden hours over the next three years.
- Proposals that simplify and streamline processes
Ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs)
ASCs and hospitals have long competed for business. This competition has, at times, led to hospitals providing outpatient surgical services refusing to sign written transfer agreements or to grant admitting privileges to physicians performing surgery in an ACS. CMS’ proposed rule is aimed at making is easier for ACSs to receive and admit patients. Currently, as a condition for coverage an ASC must – (i) Have a written transfer agreement with a hospital that meets the requirements of paragraph (b)(2) of this section; or (ii) Ensure that all physicians performing surgery in the ASC have admitting privileges at a hospital that meets the requirements of paragraph (b)(2) of this section. CMS proposes to remove the above-mentioned requirements.
Furthermore, now, for every patient admitted and/or pre-surgically assessed at an ACS, the ACS must ensure that each patient has a comprehensive medical history and physical assessment not more than 30-days before the date of the scheduled surgery, that, upon admission, each patient undergoes a pre-surgical assessment competed by a physician, and that each patient’s medical history and physical assessment be placed in the patient’s medical record prior to the surgical procedure. Instead, CMS proposes to defer to each individual ASC’s policy and operating physician’s clinical judgment. CMS will still require the documentation of any pre-existing condition and that the documentation including any allergies, medical history, and physical examination be placed in the patient’s file pre-surgery. But, without question, these two proposed rules will lighten the burden on ACSs and its relationships with hospitals.
Expect a heavy dose of comments to be from hospitals. I think that CMS’ thought process behind this is that it costs substantially less to perform surgeries in an ASC rather than a hospital. But I question whether CMS has studied outcome results – I have no empirical evidence; I only question.
Hospice
The federal regulations presently require that hospice staff include an individual with specialty knowledge of hospice medications. The proposed rule eliminates this requirement. I believe that this proposal arose from complaints of high payroll. This proposed change could cut payrolls significantly because salaries can be reduced without specialty knowledge.
In addition, the proposed rule replaces the requirement that hospices provide a copy of medication policies and procedures to patients, families and caregivers with a requirement that hospices provide information regarding the use, storage, and disposal of controlled drugs to the patient or patient representative, and family. This information would be provided in a more user-friendly manner, as determined by each hospice.
Hospitals
CMS’ new proposed rule allows a hospital that is part of a hospital system consisting of multiple separately certified hospitals to elect to have a unified and integrated Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program for all of its member hospital. The system governing body will be responsible and accountable for ensuring that each of its separately certified hospitals meets all of the requirements of this section.
There is fine print that you will need to review: Each separately certified hospital within the system would have to demonstrate that: the unified and integrated QAPI program was established in a manner that takes into account each member hospital’s unique circumstances and any significant differences in patient populations and services offered in each hospital; and the unified and integrated QAPI program would establish and implement policies and procedures to ensure that the needs and concerns of each of its separately certified hospitals, regardless of practice or location, were given due consideration, and that the unified and integrated QAPI program would have mechanisms in place to ensure that issues localized to particular hospitals were duly considered and addressed.
Again, I believe that this proposed change is all about saving money.
- Proposals that reduce the frequency of activities and revise timelines
Home Health
We propose to remove the requirement that Home Health Agencies (HHAs) provide a copy of the clinical record to a patient, upon request, by the next home visit. We propose to retain the requirement that the copy of the clinical record must be provided, upon request, within 4 business days.
Sometimes a patient’s record is voluminous. With the new age of EHR, hard copies are not so easily accessible.
Critical Access Hospitals
CMS’ proposed rule will change the requirement at § 485.635(a)(4) to reflect the current medical practice where providers are expected to update their policies and procedures as needed in response to regulatory changes, changes in the standard of care, or nationally recognized guidelines. The current rule requires a CAH’s professional personnel to review its policies at least annually and the CAH to review as necessary. The proposal is to reduce burden and provide flexibility by requiring the CAH’s, professional personnel, at a minimum, to conduct a biennial review of its policies and procedures instead of an annual review.
Emergency Preparedness
Instead of reviewing emergency preparedness plans annually, CMS proposes to revise these requirements, so that applicable providers and suppliers have increased flexibility with compliance.
- Proposals that are obsolete, duplicative, or that contain unnecessary requirements
Hospitals and CAH Swing-Bed Requirements
CMS’ proposed rule removes the cross reference in the regulations for hospital swing-bed providers and for CAH swing-bed providers. The cross-reference gives a resident the right to choose to, or refuse to, perform services for the facility if they so choose. If the resident works, the facility must document it in the resident’s plan of care, noting whether the services are voluntary or paid, and, if paid, providing wages for the work being performed, at prevailing rates.
The new proposal also removes requirement that facilities with more than 120 beds to employ a social worker on full-time basis and in obtaining routine and 24-hour emergency dental care.
____________________
The comment period for this proposed rule ends on November 19, 2018. You can go to the Federal Register to make a formal comment.
Comments may be submitted electronically through the e-Regulation website https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Regulations-and-Policies/eRulemaking/index.html?redirect=/eRulemaking.
