Government
Medicare names permanent RACs
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 20, 2008
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on Oct. 6 announced the four recovery audit contractors that will review physician and hospital Medicare claims on an ongoing basis to find improper payments.
The program divides the country into four regions and assigns a permanent RAC to each one: Diversified Collection Services Inc. of Livermore, Calif., in region A; CGI Technologies and Solutions Inc. of Fairfax, Va., in region B; Connolly Consulting Associates Inc. of Wilton, Conn., in region C; and HealthDataInsights Inc. of Las Vegas in region D.
The contractors' jurisdictions can be viewed online (link).
Physicians who underwent RAC audits during a three-year demonstration project in selected states complained that overly aggressive reviewers made questionable overpayment accusations and created bureaucratic headaches for practices.
CMS officials said they have greatly improved the auditing process in advance of the nationwide rollout.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/10/20/gvbf1020.htm.












