Healthcare Law Blog

The Heat Turns Up: The 60-Day Rule Gets a Facelift but Changes Create Complications for Providers

With the OIG’s May 30, 2025, announcement that they are seeking $454.4 million in funding to fight healthcare fraud, healthcare providers can expect increased governmental scrutiny despite Trump’s budget cutbacks and staff layoffs.  The OIG justifies its budget request by pointing out that for every $1 invested, there is an expected return of $11 in government recoveries and receivables, which fuels the Trump administration’s fight on fraud, waste, and abuse in health care. What this means for health care providers is intensified scrutiny and likely use of AI as a tool to evaluate big data to identify potential false claims, fraud, outliers, etc. Considering the OIG’s 90-page new General Compliance Guidance, healthcare providers’ self-policing strategies and internal audits are more important than ever as the heat turns up on alleged fraud and false claims. More >

The One Simple Rule for Practitioners to Avoid Overpayments and False Claims Act Penalties

In December, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released its “Supplementary Appendices for the Medicare Fee-for-Service 2015 Improper Payments Report,”[1] an annual compilation of statistics from investigations into overpayments and other instances of fraud, waste and abuse in Medicare payments. What should shock Kentucky providers is that Kentucky has the seventh highest percentage of projected overpayments at 15.4%, or $897.7 million.[2] More than one out of every seven Medicare fee-for-service payments made in the Commonwealth is projected to be an overpayment in 2015, yet many of these problems could have been avoided by following one simple rule: document claims properly.

[1] U.S. Department for Health and Human Services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2015). The Summary Appendices for the Medicare Fee-for-Service 2015 Improper Payments Report. Retrieved from  https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Monitoring-Programs/Medicare-FFS-Compliance-Programs/CERT/CERT-Reports-Items/Downloads/AppendicesMedicareFee-for-Service2015ImproperPaymentsReport.pdf

[2] Ibid. at 13. More >

DOJ Intervenes In Case Involving ACA’s 60-Day Overpayment Rule

Recently, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) intervened in a qui tam whistleblower suit in the US District Court for the Southern District of new York, which involves Continuum Health Partners and several Mount Sinai-related hospitals. United States ex. Rel. Kane v. Continuum Health Partners, Inc. et al, (Civil Action, No. 11-2325(ER)). While DOJ intervention in whistleblower cases is not unusual, this case is significant because the DOJ’s complaint specifically alleges that the defendants failed to return Medicaid overpayments within 60 days, as required by the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The case is one of the first to explore the issues and interpret the requirements of the 60-Day Rule. More >

Time to “Face” The Risks

In 2011, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”), as part of the reform instituted by the Affordable Care Act, required that home health agencies and hospice patients receive a face-to-face visit (at specified time periods) by a physician or nurse practitioner to ensure that they continue to meet Medicare and Medicaid eligibility criteria. More >