A number of Louisiana hospitals have received letters from local U.S. Attorneys regarding potential Medicare overpayments.
These letters involve multiple blood transfusions per day, charging for infusion therapy in connection with other revenue codes, and/or lithotripsy billing under multiple revenue codes. These letters are part of a national Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiative covering years 2002 through 2007, and while they are sent by local Justice Department offices, they are based on data generated by the central OIG office. Some actually note that the hospital does not appear to have engaged in one or more of the above. The letters do not state an amount due, but instead invite the hospital to contact the Assistant U.S. Attorney.  Hospitals should not assume that the conclusions in the letter are correct, but should check the issues indicated and attempt to quantify the amount of overpayment if a problem is found. Regardless of the amount determined to be owed (if any), hospitals should not unduly delay responding to these letters. (Greg Frost, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, LLP, Greg.Frost@bswllp.com)