Protests Halt RAC Activity
- By admin aapc
- In Industry News
- November 5, 2008
- Comments Off on Protests Halt RAC Activity
Protests by companies not chosen have forced the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to halt the activity of four new Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) winners awarded Oct. 6:
- Diversified Collections Services
- CGI Technologies and Solutions
- Consulting Associates
- HealthDataInsights
The stay was announced Nov. 4 after Viant Inc. and PRG Shultz, USA, Inc. filed protests with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) regarding the way in which CMS conducted its bidding campaign for the RAC program.
The four winning contractors were to begin work in 2009; however, according to CMS spokesman, Peter Ashkenaz, “All work on the RAC contracts is required to stop until further notice (this includes outreach meetings). GAO has 100 days to issue a decision. The RAC contracts are suspended pending the outcome of the two protests.”
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We just had our Nov. meeting and this is what we discussed…didn’t know about the supension at that time.
Guess Georgia will have to wait and see when meetings (face-to-face) will begin.
And this should surprise anyone?? These agencies are highly motivated with the potential of dollars involved from the recovery process. They have been empowered and are motivated, a dangerous combination. I have been involved in my company with CMS audits for over 2 years. It is painful in all aspects. I can only imagine it will be as difficult if not more so once these outside agencies become involved. If you have never been in a long term audit you have no idea how hard it is to get your company OUT of one. While I appreciate the need for mismanaged corporations such as Medicare to be taking steps to recover what is due them, once they find the practice achilles they do not let up. Our company is highly pro active in physician education and accountability to produce correct documentation and coding but even with that in place now, the audits are retro and prior to our corrective action. I am most curious to see how all of this will unfold and you can bet that while this is being worked out, CMS is busy trending numbers ready to supply these agencies with a huge jump start.
I was surprised until a colleague reminded me the companies who did not win the MAC contracts did the same. One thing for sure – RAC is not going away. There are too many dollars on the table for CMS. Plus, physicians and hospitals have been ignoring many of the CMS compliance regulations for years. I would also be concerned about the Medicaid (MIC) audits! They have no restriction on DOS look back and they can get involved with cases already under review by another entity. And then there are the FTC Red Flag requirements for identity theft that apply to both physicians and hospitals. Those have been postponed until May 1, 2009. If you haven’t heard of them I suggest going to the FTC website…
Even though the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently stopped work under the permanent Medicare recovery audit contactor (RAC) awards, CMS has recently updated some of the FAQs for the Medicare RAC program. See the Medicare Update weblog’s posts at http://tinyurl.com/5mhxq9 and http://tinyurl.com/6ofz9v.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently released the transcripts of the November 2008 Special Open Door Forums on the Medicare recovery audit contractor program. See the Medicare Update weblog’s post at http://tinyurl.com/8cm9xd
As of January 22, 2009, the U.S. Government Accountability Office indicates that the protests to the contract awards for the permanent Medicare recovery audit contractor program are still not decided. See the Medicare Update weblog’s post at http://tinyurl.com/ak4kmc
As of February 6, 2009, the U.S. Government Accountability Office on-line docket shows that the bid protests to the permanent Medicare recovery audit contractor program have been “withdrawn.” See the Medicare Update weblog’s post at http://tinyurl.com/bq36eo
On February 6, 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced that the bid protests to the permanent Medicare recovery audit contractor program have been settled. See the Medicare Update weblog’s post at http://tinyurl.com/cdhebh