Reports call for changes to CMS's debt-collection procedures - Updata - Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - Brief Article

Healthcare Financial Management, June, 2002

Providers that owe the Medicare program money may soon be seeing new collection measures implemented on the heels of reports from the General Accounting Office (GAO) and the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). The reports take the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to task for its poor compliance with the Debt Collection Improvement Act.

The GAO estimated that delinquent Medicare debts represent a rather significant 9 percent of the approximately $58 billion of reported delinquent non-tax debt owed to the Federal government as of September 30, 2000. The GAO urged CMS to implement a comprehensive referral plan for all eligible delinquent Medicare debts that includes timeframes for promptly referring all types of debts for collection processing. Also, the GAO advised CMS to assess those Medicare secondary-payer debts that are being closed out because they are more than six years and three months delinquent. CMS then should determine whether to pursue collection action on the debts and document the results of its assessment.

The OIG, on the other hand, acknowledged that CMS has made significant progress in managing debt, especially in coordinating with Medicare contractors. Still, the OIG asserted that CMS needs to take aggressive action to ensure that accurate and timely information is reported. The OIG recommended that CMS improve procedures for handling supporting documentation, periodic reconciliation, and supervisory review of delinquent debt activities.

To read the GAO report, go to http://www.gao.gov and search for report GAO-02-307.

To read the OIG report, go to http://oig.hhs.gov/oas/reports/cms/a0102003.pdf.>

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