In an April 19, 2013 letter to Inspector General Daniel Levinson and Deputy Inspector General for Evaluation Stuart Wright, AOPA addressed several concerns regarding assertions that were made in the OIG response to AOPA’s comments on the December 2012 OIG report entitled Medicare Supplier Acquisition Costs for L0631 Back Orthoses. AOPA provided initial comments on […]
AOPA’s counsel on CMS matters, Tom Mills of the law firm Winston and Strawn, has issued a second letter to HHS Secretary Sebelius and CMS Acting Administrator Tavenner again seeking withdrawal of the “Dear Physician Letter” which unleashed the horrendous increase in RAC and other audits as well as burdensome prepayment reviews. All of these […]
Those who attended the AOPA Policy Forum March 12-13 started the effort in their Congressional visits to persuade their Representatives to sign-on to a letter from Rep Duckworth (D-IL) and Rep. Guthrie (R-KY) to HHS Secretary Sebelius expressing concerns about CMS audit procedures. A follow-up campaign, by directed at the entire AOPA membership, generated action […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it will implement Phase 2 of the PECOS referring/ordering physician edits for claims submitted on or after May 1, 2013. What this means is that claims for services ordered by a physician or other eligible provider who does not have an active enrollment […]
There is an upcoming Regional SBA Hearing being held in Seattle, WA on June 6th titled “Regulatory Fairness Hearing for Small Business.” AOPA will be testifying on behalf of our members on the RAC and Pre-payment audit practices jeopardizing the economic viability of our members. This hearing is being held by the U.S. Small Business […]
AOPA Executive Director, Tom Fise, brought the Board of Directors up to date in a recent email on how AOPA members attending the Policy Forum took the lead in urging their legislators in the House of Representatives to sign-on to the letter Rep. Tammy Duckworth and Rep Brett Guthrie will send to HHS Secretary Sebelius. […]
Writing in AARP The Bulletin, Daniel R. Levinson repeats a faulty assertion first made in the Office of Inspector General Report of December 2012 that Medicare paid an average of $919 for L0631 coded back braces that could be bought on the Internet for $191. The Medicare reimbursement was supposed to include ongoing clinical care […]
AOPA’s continuing conversation and efforts to convince CMS of the cash flow killing harm to patient care and member patient care facilities imposed by the pervasive and aggressive RAC audits together with aggressive AOPA member advocacy with their legislators flowing from the Policy Forum appears to have borne some fruit. The Centers for Medicare and […]
