The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that while new bids for Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) contracts are being accepted and reviewed, all current RACs may continue active recovery auditing activities, including sending additional documentation requests (ADRs), effective November 13.
In February 2014, CMS announced a temporary stop to RAC audits as it entered into a procurement process for the next round of Recovery Audit program contracts. In December 2014, a contract to establish a single national RAC contractor responsible for RAC audits on all durable medical equipment and home health and hospice claims was initially awarded to Connolly Healthcare, headquartered in Wilton, Connecticut, which currently serves as the Jurisdiction C RAC contractor. After the contract award was issued, a bid protest of the award delayed its implementation and eventually led to a CMS decision to issue new bids for all of the RAC contracts, including the national contract. The Request for Proposals for the next round of RAC contracts were posted November 6.
“While it may take a few weeks for the current RACs to put in place the resources to restart full-scale activities, there is no reason to expect that they will not do so as soon as possible,” said the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association (AOPA).
