Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) have introduced the Medicare Audit Improvement Act, a bipartisan companion bill to the House version that aims to reform Medicare Recovery Auditors, better known as Medicare RACs, according to an AHA News Now report.
In March, House Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sam Graves (R-Mo.) proposed a bill of the same name, which would change how Medicare RACs interact with hospitals and other providers. Under the proposed bill, Medicare RAC record requests would be capped to 2 percent of hospital claims, with a maximum of 500 medical record requests every 45 days, among other measures.
RAC supporter groups, which oppose the bill, and the American Hospital Association, which supports it, have sparred over the legislation to varying degrees. The American Coalition for Healthcare Claims Integrity called the bill a "surefire way" to let improper payments "run rampant." The AHA has routinely supported RAC reform bills, arguing current RAC requests burden hospitals with unnecessary paperwork.
No timeline was given for when the Senate would vote on the bill.
In March, House Reps. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Sam Graves (R-Mo.) proposed a bill of the same name, which would change how Medicare RACs interact with hospitals and other providers. Under the proposed bill, Medicare RAC record requests would be capped to 2 percent of hospital claims, with a maximum of 500 medical record requests every 45 days, among other measures.
RAC supporter groups, which oppose the bill, and the American Hospital Association, which supports it, have sparred over the legislation to varying degrees. The American Coalition for Healthcare Claims Integrity called the bill a "surefire way" to let improper payments "run rampant." The AHA has routinely supported RAC reform bills, arguing current RAC requests burden hospitals with unnecessary paperwork.
No timeline was given for when the Senate would vote on the bill.
More Articles on Medicare RACs:
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Hospital CMO: Fighting RACs "Not a Level Playing Field"
Medicare RAC Overpayment Collections Hit $4.5B Since 2009