The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released its final rule today on the return of overpayments. The final rule requires providers and suppliers receiving funds under the Medicare/Medicaid program to report and return overpayments within 60 days of identifying the overpayment, or the date a corresponding cost report is due, whichever is later. As published in the February 12, 2016 Federal Register, the final rule clarifies the meaning of overpayment identification, the required lookback period, and the methods available for reporting and returning identified overpayments to CMS. See https://www.federalregister.gov/articles/2016/02/12/2016-02789/medicare-program-reporting-and-returning-of-overpayments.
Identification
The point in time in which an overpayment is identified is significant because it triggers the start of the 60-day period in which overpayments must be returned. CMS originally proposed that an overpayment is identified only when “the person has actual knowledge of the existence of the overpayment or acts in reckless disregard or deliberate ignorance of the overpayment.” The final rule changes the meaning of identification, stating that “a person has identified an overpayment when the person has or should have, through the exercise of reasonable diligence, determined that the person has received an overpayment and quantified the amount of the overpayment. The change places a burden on healthcare providers and suppliers to have reasonable policies and programs in place which monitor the receipt of Medicare/Medicaid payments.
6-Year Lookback Period
The final rule also softens the period for which health care providers and suppliers may be liable for the return of overpayments. As the rule was originally proposed, CMS required a 10-year lookback period, consistent with the False Claims Act. Now, overpayments must be reported and returned only if a person identifies the overpayment within six years of the date the overpayment was received.
Guidance in Reporting and Returning Overpayments
The final rule provides that providers and suppliers must use an applicable claims adjustment, credit balance, self-reported refund, or other appropriate process to satisfy the obligation to report and return overpayments. If a health care provider or supplier has reported a self-identified overpayment to either the Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol managed by CMS or the Self-Disclosure Protocol managed by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG), the provider or supplier is considered to be in compliance with the provisions of this rule as long as they are actively engaged in the respective protocol.