The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that the Recovery Audit Prepayment Review demonstration, announced, November 15, 2011, and originally slated to begin January 1, is expected to begin on or after June 1, 2012.
According to CMS, the Recovery Audit Prepayment Review demonstration will allow Medicare Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) “to review claims before they are paid to ensure that the provider complied with all Medicare payment rules. The RACs will conduct prepayment reviews on certain types of claims that historically result in high rates of improper payments. These reviews will focus on seven states with high populations of fraud- and error-prone providers (Florida, California, Michigan, Texas, New York, Louisiana, and Illinois) and four states with high claims volumes of short inpatient hospital stays (Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina, and Missouri). This demonstration will also help lower the error rate by preventing improper payments rather than the traditional ‘pay-and-chase’ methods of looking for improper payments after they occur.”
To read more about the demonstration program, click here.
