A recent Axios newsletter article on hospital audits conducted by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of Inspector General “is misleading and only tells one side of the story by leaving out key information that readers deserve to know,” AHA General Counsel Melinda Hatton writes today in an AHA Stat blog post. “Most important, the article fails to mention that OIG’s hospital audits regularly include fundamental flaws and inaccuracies, both in OIG’s understanding and application of Medicare payment rules and in the procedures the OIG uses to conduct the audits. These flaws result in vastly overstated repayment demands, unwarranted reputational harm, and diversion of hospital and physician leaders’ time from their core mission of caring for patients…America’s hospitals and health systems understand the need for robust and effective review of Medicare billing and payment practices and have presented CMS with five suggestions to improve the accuracy and fairness of the OIG audits.”

Related News Articles

Headline
The AHA Oct. 3 responded to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s recent analysis on the financial impacts of Medicare Advantage enrollment growth on…
Headline
The federal government shutdown will continue as the Senate Oct. 3 failed to adopt a government funding deal. The latest attempt to pass the House-passed…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Sept. 30 issued a memo, through the Health Plan Management system, finalizing the Medicare Advantage…
Headline
The federal government shut down Oct. 1 following a failed Senate vote on the House-passed continuing resolution to fund the government by midnight Sept. 30.…
Headline
The AHA Sept. 29 sent recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to help ensure…
Headline
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Sept. 26 that average premiums for Medicare Advantage and Part D would decline slightly in 2026.…