CMS Is Expanding Its Enforcement Ability

Pursuant to a new rule, entitled Program Integrity Enhancements to the Provider Enrollment Process, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) is expanding its ability to combat fraud and abuse within the healthcare industry.

Under the new rule, CMS will be able to identify individuals and entities that pose a fraud and abuse risk solely based on “affiliations” with other entities that have been sanctioned by CMS. CMS can then take steps to prevent such identified individuals and entities from participating in the Medicare program. At the request of CMS, enrolling providers will disclose
any current or previous “affiliation” with an organization that has uncollected debt (regardless of amount and regardless of appeal status), experienced a payment suspension, been excluded, or had its billing privileges denied or rescinded (regardless of the basis). As used within the new rule, “affiliation” would include, among other things, an individual with 5% or greater indirect or direct ownership interest, officer, director, individual with operational or managerial control, or any reassignment relationship.

The provider community has expressed a number of concerns with this new rule, as the new rule gives a large amount of discretion to CMS without comparable notice or remedy to the provider. Consequently, in light of this new rule, Medicare providers and suppliers need to carefully and thoroughly examine any individual with whom it has an “affiliation” relationship to
avoid negative consequences.

The rule takes effect on November 4, 2019.

Kelli Fleming is a Partner at Burr & Forman LLP practicing exclusively in the firm’s healthcare industry group.