Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

New CMS proposal would impact all self-identified overpayments that your contractor sends to you. You've always known that it's improper to hang on to money that belongs to the government -- but until now, you haven't had a strict deadline for returning it. Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, CMS was asked to institute a specific timeframe by which you must return overpayments to the Medicare program. A proposed rule outlining the new deadline process was published in the Feb. 16 Federal Register. If the proposal is finalized, you will have to return overpayments within 60 days of identifying the incorrect payment, or on the date when a corresponding cost report is due (whichever is later). CMS defines "overpayments" as funds a practice or person receives "to which the person is not entitled," including payment for duplicate claim submissions, reimbursements sent to the wrong payee, payment for excluded or medically unnecessary [...]