Recovery Audit Prepayment Review Demonstration

CMS announced that the Recovery Audit Prepayment Review Demonstration which was delayed from its initial January 1, 2012 start date is expected to begin in the summer of 2012. The Recovery Audit Prepayment Review will allow Medicare Recovery Auditors (RACs) to review claims before they are paid to ensure that the provider complied with all Medicare payment rules. The RACs will conduct prepayment reviews on certain types of claims that historically result in high rates of improper payments. These reviews will focus on seven states with high populations of fraud- and error-prone providers (FL, CA, MI, TX, NY, LA, IL) and four states with high claims volumes of short inpatient hospital stays (PA, OH, NC, MO) for a total of 11 states. This demonstration will also help lower the error rate by preventing improper payments rather than the traditional “pay and chase” methods of looking for improper payments after they occur. This demonstration will begin on August 27, 2012.

Source: https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Monitoring-Programs/CERT/Demonstrations.html