AAHomecare's Walt Gorski, vice president of government affairs, spoke Friday at the National Medicare RAC Summit, a conference about the new Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor program. Under the program, the RACs will be paid a contingency fee based on the amount of the improper payments they ferret out and collect. After a three-year demonstration in six states found more than $900 million in overpayments, CMS has implemented permanent RACs, and the post-payment review program will roll out to all 50 states by Jan. 1, 2010.
"RACs are a duplication of efforts currently on the books, including CERT, OIG CERT, pre-pay PSC, NSC site inspections and other programs," Gorski said. "This program will have a devastating impact on home care providers because we will be held responsible for what is in the medical record. AAHomecare believes there is a need for a new approach to stopping improper payments, focusing on better screening on the front end and denying entry into the Medicare program for entities that should not receive NPI numbers to begin with."