In This Issue
CMS’s Recovery Audit Contractors Appear Poised to Audit Facilities With Ultra High Therapy RUGs – Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) in some parts of the U.S. have begun requesting documentation from certain skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), which suggests that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) may be ready to unleash the RACs on SNFs with designated levels of High Therapy RUGs utilization. Under the federal Recovery Audit Contractors program, the RACs are permitted to audit providers only on CMS-approved issues. more…
U.S. Department of Labor Focuses Enforcement Efforts on North Carolina Residential Care Facilities – On December 1, 2011, the United States Department of Labor (DOL) announced a new “enforcement initiative” focused on residential care facilities in North Carolina. The DOL’s press release announcing this new initiative says its investigators will be visiting residential care facilities throughout the state to interview employees and review their pay practices and records for compliance with minimum wage, overtime and record-keeping requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).
Employing Individuals Excluded From Federal Health Care Programs: A Follow-up to Last Month’s Article – Our story in November’s Shorts on the risks of employing or contracting with individuals who have been excluded from the Medicare, Medicaid or other health care programs prompted a number of questions from readers. This month, we’ll answer the most frequently asked questions.
Meet the Winners: North Carolina Activity Professionals Headed to Nicaragua – In the November issue of Shorts, we announced our first-ever competition for long term care providers and asked you to nominate “the best of the best” North Carolina activity professionals to travel for free with us to Nicaragua in January 2012, to initiate the very first activities program for elders in Nicaragua and probably in all of Central America. Thanks so much to each of you who nominated a candidate for the scholarship to Nicaragua — we received incredible nominations.
Ken’s Quote of the Month – “Every choice has a price. The question is, are you willing to pay it?”
-Anonymous