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On Thursday, August 29, in response to the Supreme Court overturning a key portion of the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA), a handful of agencies announced they would be extending rights to married same-sex couples. Notably, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is one of them. This development means an extension of Medicare benefits to couples previously denied Medicare benefits because of DOMA. Same-sex married couples will be allowed to file joint federal tax returns, and as a result are able to claim marriage-related exemptions, employee benefits, claiming the earned income tax credit and other credits and deductions even if they live in jurisdictions that don’t recognize same-sex marriage. Continue reading →

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a report on August 15, 2013 in which the OIG concluded that two-thirds or 856 of the Medicare enrolled Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) did not meet the location and distance requirements for a hospital to be enrolled with Medicare as a CAH. Hospitals can be certified as CAHs if they meet various regulatory requirements, including being located at least a certain driving distance from other hospitals and being located in rural areas. Medicare reimburses CAHs at 101 percent of their reasonable cost.

The OIG also commented that if CMS had decertified CAHs that were 15 or fewer miles from their nearest hospitals in 2011, the Medicare program would have saved $449 million. The OIG recommended that CMS take several actions to ensure a hospital’s compliance with the CAH requirements, including that CMS periodically reassess CAHs for compliance with all location-related requirements.

A copy of the OIG this report, “Most Critical Access Hospitals Would Not Meet the Location Requirements if Required to Re-enroll in Medicare” is posted on the OIG website at http://OIG.hhs.gov/ under the “What’s New” tab.

Written by: Clay Countryman

Tag Archives: Medicare

Overturning of DOMA Has Implications for Medicare Benefits of Same-Sex Couples

OIG Recommends That CMS Review Critical Access Hospitals For Compliance With Medicare Enrollment Requirements