[ANNOUNCE] The 2-Year Delay is a Violation of Your Rights -- Let's make a stand together!
Tina Moran
Description
Collection
Title:
[ANNOUNCE] The 2-Year Delay is a Violation of Your Rights -- Let's make a stand together!
Creator:
Tina Moran
Date:
1/29/2014
Text:
The 24-Month Delay is a Violation of Your Rights of Due Process Afforded to You by the Benefits Improvement & Protection Act (BIPA) of 2000
By now you have probably heard the news that the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA), the entity in charge of the third level of appeals, has made the decision to temporarily suspend the processing of any new Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Hearings; and they expect this suspension to last two years. This delay tactic is a result of the overwhelming number of appeal requests the ALJs are receiving on a weekly basis, and the backlog of appeals they have yet to review and render a verdict.
The OMHA has indicated that the workload of the ALJs has increased by 184% over the last three years, and this increase can clearly be linked to the increased activity of the Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) and other Medicare audit activity. This increase means that each of the 65 ALJs have at least 4,000 appeals they must review in order to eliminate the current backlog of appeals; and that your wait time for resolution, once you have been assigned to an ALJ, could be more than the 16 months CMS & OMHA have acknowledged (AOPA sources say in some areas the wait to get to an ALJ hearing is actually 26 months even before the addition of this two year suspension).
AOPA feels strongly that this two year delay is a clear violation of your rights of due process afforded to you by the Benefits Improvements and Protection Act (BIPA) of 2000. AOPA has taken the first step and has addressed your concerns about this announcement and the subsequent revocation of your rights with a letter to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner. We now need you to take the next step and forward this letter to your representatives and urge them to support your rights to due process.
The ALJ level of appeal continues to be your best opportunity to be victorious and overturn unfavorable decisions made by the RACs and other auditors, and this delay undermines and delays your best prospect for relief. However, this announcement now provides us with even more concrete evidence that the current system of overly aggressive auditors is flawed and is putting undue burden on providers.
Restore your due process and contact your legislators today!
Utilize this convenient link to CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES & RESTORE DUE PROCESS! - <URL Redacted>
Go here to read AOPAs Letter to CMS Administrator Tavenner - <URL Redacted>
Read the OMHA Memo Delaying ALJ Hearings here - <URL Redacted>
Questions regarding this issue may be directed to Steve Custer at <Email Address Redacted>
By now you have probably heard the news that the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA), the entity in charge of the third level of appeals, has made the decision to temporarily suspend the processing of any new Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Hearings; and they expect this suspension to last two years. This delay tactic is a result of the overwhelming number of appeal requests the ALJs are receiving on a weekly basis, and the backlog of appeals they have yet to review and render a verdict.
The OMHA has indicated that the workload of the ALJs has increased by 184% over the last three years, and this increase can clearly be linked to the increased activity of the Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) and other Medicare audit activity. This increase means that each of the 65 ALJs have at least 4,000 appeals they must review in order to eliminate the current backlog of appeals; and that your wait time for resolution, once you have been assigned to an ALJ, could be more than the 16 months CMS & OMHA have acknowledged (AOPA sources say in some areas the wait to get to an ALJ hearing is actually 26 months even before the addition of this two year suspension).
AOPA feels strongly that this two year delay is a clear violation of your rights of due process afforded to you by the Benefits Improvements and Protection Act (BIPA) of 2000. AOPA has taken the first step and has addressed your concerns about this announcement and the subsequent revocation of your rights with a letter to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner. We now need you to take the next step and forward this letter to your representatives and urge them to support your rights to due process.
The ALJ level of appeal continues to be your best opportunity to be victorious and overturn unfavorable decisions made by the RACs and other auditors, and this delay undermines and delays your best prospect for relief. However, this announcement now provides us with even more concrete evidence that the current system of overly aggressive auditors is flawed and is putting undue burden on providers.
Restore your due process and contact your legislators today!
Utilize this convenient link to CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES & RESTORE DUE PROCESS! - <URL Redacted>
Go here to read AOPAs Letter to CMS Administrator Tavenner - <URL Redacted>
Read the OMHA Memo Delaying ALJ Hearings here - <URL Redacted>
Questions regarding this issue may be directed to Steve Custer at <Email Address Redacted>
Citation
Tina Moran, “[ANNOUNCE] The 2-Year Delay is a Violation of Your Rights -- Let's make a stand together!,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 23, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/236018.
