RAC Prepayment Review Demo to Begin June 1

Tags: RAC | RAC prepayment review | RACs | recovery audit contractor | recovery auditor

At the beginning of January, CMS said it would delay the Jan. 1, 2012, launch date of its Recovery Audit Prepayment Review demonstration, and today CMS announced that demonstration will now move forward on or after June 1, 2012.

The RAC Prepayment Review demo would allow RACs to review claims before they are paid to ensure the hospital or provider complied with all Medicare payment rules. The reviews will focus on specific types of claims with historically high improper payment rates, such as cardiac and orthopedic procedures, and it will only focus on 11 states with high populations of fraud- and error-prone providers and high claims volumes of short inpatient hospital stays.

Sign up for our FREE Hospital CFO E-Weekly for more coverage like this sent to your inbox!

Additionally, the prior Authorization of Power Mobility Devices demonstration, which was also postponed, will begin on or after June 1. The Part A to Part B Rebilling demonstration was the only one of the three new initiatives that started this past Jan. 1.

Related Articles on the RAC Prepayment Review Demonstration:

CMS Shelves RAC Prepayment Review Demonstration

Medicare Prepayments for Heart, Orthopedic Procedures Limited to Florida

CMS to Launch Three Demonstration Programs to Curb Improper Payments

© Copyright ASC COMMUNICATIONS 2012. Interested in LINKING to or REPRINTING this content? View our policies by clicking here.