Providers continue to face a massive Medicare appeals backlog before the Office of Medicare Hearing and Appeals (OMHA). Pending appeals number in the hundreds of thousands and the current average processing time for an appeal is over three years, with newly filed appeals likely to reach closer to five. While OMHA and Medicare reimbursement appeals face endemic issues, new developments and alternative programs may present strategic opportunities for providers and chip away at the backlog.

Regulatory changes from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have come into play and are designed to provide clarity, reduce delays, and streamline the appeal process.  For example, HHS has recently revamped the OMHA case processing manual, “deputized” OMHA attorney adjudicators, and determined that some decisions from the Departmental Appeals Board (the appellate level above OMHA) will now be precedential.

Additionally, OMHA and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have initiated new programs that provide alternatives to the traditional appeals procedure with the goal of reducing the backlog. These include 1) the OMHA Settlement Conference Facilitation alternative dispute resolution process; 2) the Statistical Sampling Initiative; 3) CMS’s Low Volume Appeals settlement options, and 4) CMS’s Formal Telephone Discussion Demonstration for Durable Medical Equipment providers. Further, recent Federal Circuit court cases, including American Hospital Association, et al v. Thomas Price, may significantly impact the Medicare appeals process.

During the AHLA Annual Meeting on Monday, June 25, McDermott lawyer and former OMHA attorney advisor, Nicholas Alarif, and Amanda Axeen, the [...]

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