Health Law Partners Warn of Increased Medicare Auditing Activity

"What All Health Care Providers and Suppliers Need To Know About the Medicare
Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Program"

RAC Denials and Overpayment Demands Can Be Appealed
SOUTHFIELD, Mich.--(Business Wire)--
The Health Law Partners, P.C. (www.thehlp.com), today released a HealthCare
Notification entitled: What All Health Care Providers and Suppliers Need To Know
About the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) Program.

Written by Abby Pendleton, Esq. and Jessica L.Gustafson, Esq., founding partners
of The HLP, this article outlines the issues all Medicare providers and
suppliers should know about the RAC program.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Recovery Audit Contractor
(RAC) program has been made permanent and is expanding nationwide. In the very
near future, the substantive RAC auditing activity is planned to begin in
Michigan, New York, California and Florida,among other states.

Pendleton states, "It is without question that physician practices must begin to
prepare now for what promises to be an unprecedented time in terms of Medicare,
Medicaid and other payor audit scrutiny."

Pendleton and Gustafson suggest that the Medicare RAC program will definitely
change the landscape of the health care environment prompting providers to pay
careful attention to medical documentation and coding practices. The authors
encourage all physicians to take measures to enhance current documentation
practices keeping in mind that records could be selected for audit at some point
in the future.

However, all is not gloom and doom. According to Gustafson, "Medicare providers
and suppliers must be aware that RAC denials and overpayment demands can be
successfully appealed through the established Medicare appeals process."
Pendleton continues, "Providers should definitely take advantage of the appeals
process. We have seen many providers write-off claims that are winnable. For
purposes of defending denied claims, having perfect documentation is certainly
not the key to prevailing."

ABOUT THE HEALTH LAW PARTNERS, PC

The Health Law Partners, P.C. ("HLP"), (www.thehlp.com), was founded by a team
of attorneys, each of whom practices exclusively in the area of national health
care law, for the purpose of providing solutions to health care providers' and
organizations' legal, business and reimbursement challenges.The Health Law
Partners is located in Southfield, MI.

Abby Pendleton and Jessica Gustafson lead the Medicare, RAC and other Payor
Appeals Department at The HLP. For more information please contact: Abby
Pendleton and Jessica Gustafson at 248.996.8510 or by email:
APendleton@thehlp.com ; JGustafson@thehlp.com

http://www.thehealthlawpartners.com/lawyer-attorney-1445064.html (Imbedded
video: RACs How to Prepare for the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor Program)

For Health Law Partners, P.C.
Judith Slotkin, 248-761-8766
judith@slotkinagency.com
or
Abby Pendleton, 248-996-8510
APendleton@thehlp.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009