Providers waiting years to resolve Medicare disputes may be closer to having their cases heard.
A trial court judge ruled that the Department of Health and Human Services must eliminate its backlog of Medicare appeals by 2022. U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg made the ruling Nov. 1, in response to a lawsuit filed by the American Hospital Association, Bloomberg reported.
As of last week, there were more than 426,000 unresolved Medicare disputes. Under the ruling, HHS must clear 19% of those by the end of fiscal 2019, and almost half by the end of the next fiscal year. Officials with the agency said they need continued funding to help hire judges and support staff to review appeals, and Boasberg said HHS can extend its deadlines if federal dollars dry up.
While a win for providers, the AHA did not gets its request to pay lower interest rates on disputed payments, or the ability to rebill claims that were miscoded, Bloomberg noted. In a statement issued Thursday, the hospital advocacy group said that it was “extremely pleased” with the judge’s ruling.
