LIMITATION ON LIABILITY OF BENEFICIARY WHERE MEDICARE CLAIMS ARE DISALLOWED[688]
Sec. 1879. [42 U.S.C. 1395pp] (a) Where—
(1) a determination is made that, by reason of section 1862(a)(1) or (9) or by reason of a coverage denial described in subsection (g), payment may not be made under part A or part B of this title for any expenses incurred for items or services furnished an individual by a provider of services or by another person pursuant to an assignment under section 1842(b)(3)(B)(ii), and
(2) both such individual and such provider of services or such other person, as the case may be, did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know, that payment would not be made for such items or services under such part A or part B,
then to the extent permitted by this title, payment shall, notwithstanding such determination, be made for such items or services (and for such period of time as the Secretary finds will carry out the objectives of this title), as though section 1862(a)(1) and section 1862(a)(9) did not apply and as though the coverage denial described in subsection (g) had not occurred. In each such case the Secretary shall notify both such individual and such provider of services or such other person, as the case may be, of the conditions under which payment for such items or services was made and in the case of comparable situations arising thereafter with respect to such individual or such provider or such other person, each shall, by reason of such notice (or similar notices provided before the enactment of this section[689]), be deemed to have knowledge that payment cannot be made for such items or services or reasonably comparable items or services. Any provider or other person furnishing items or services for which payment may not be made by reason of section 1862(a)(1) or (9) or by reason of a coverage denial described in subsection (g) shall be deemed to have knowledge that payment cannot be made for such items or services if the claim relating to such items or services involves a case, provider or other person furnishing services, procedure, or test, with respect to which such provider or other person has been notified by the Secretary (including notification by a quality improvement[690] organization) that a pattern of inappropriate utilization has occurred in the past, and such provider or other person has been allowed a reasonable time to correct such inappropriate utilization.
(b) In any case in which the provisions of paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) are met, except that such provider or such other person, as the case may be, knew, or could be expected to know, that payment for such services or items could not be made under such part A or part B, then the Secretary shall, upon proper application filed within such time as may be prescribed in regulations, indemnify the individual (referred to in such paragraphs) for any payments received from such individual by such provider or such other person, as the case may be, for such items or services. Any payments made by the Secretary as indemnification shall be deemed to have been made to such provider or such other person, as the case may be, and shall be treated as overpayments, recoverable from such provider or such other person, as the case may be, under applicable provisions of law. In each such case the Secretary shall notify such individual of the conditions under which indemnification is made and in the case of comparable situations arising thereafter with respect to such individual, he shall, by reason of such notice (or similar notices provided before the enactment of this section[691]), be deemed to have knowledge that payment cannot be made for such items or services. No item or service for which an individual is indemnified under this subsection shall be taken into account in applying any limitation on the amount of items and services for which payment may be made to or on behalf of the individual under this title.
(c) No payments shall be made under this title in any cases in which the provisions of paragraph (1) of subsection (a) are met, but both the individual to whom the items or services were furnished and the provider of service or other person, as the case may be, who furnished the items or services knew, or could reasonably have been expected to know, that payment could not be made for items or services under part A or part B by reason of section 1862(a)(1) or (a)(9) or by reason of a coverage denial described in subsection (g).
(d) In any case arising under subsection (b) (but without regard to whether payments have been made by the individual to the provider or other person) or subsection (c), the provider or other person shall have the same rights that an individual has under sections 1869(b) and 1842(b)(3)(C) (as may be applicable) when the amount of benefit or payments is in controversy, except that such rights may, under prescribed regulations, be exercised by such provider or other person only after the Secretary determines that the individual will not exercise such rights under such sections.
(e) Where payment for inpatient hospital services or extended care services may not be made under part A of this title on behalf of an individual entitled to benefits under such part solely because of an unintentional, inadvertent, or erroneous action with respect to the transfer of such individual from a hospital or skilled nursing facility that meets the requirements of section 1861(e) or (j) by such a provider of services acting in good faith in accordance with the advice of a utilization review committee, quality improvement[692] organization, or fiscal intermediary, or on the basis of a clearly erroneous administrative decision by a provider of services, the Secretary shall take such action with respect to the payment of such benefits as he determines may be necessary to correct the effects of such unintentional, inadvertent, or erroneous action.
(f)(1) A home health agency which meets the applicable requirements of paragraphs (3) and (4) shall be presumed to meet the requirement of subsection (a)(2).
(2) The presumption of paragraph (1) with respect to specific services may be rebutted by actual or imputed knowledge of the facts described in subsection (a)(2), including any of the following:
(A) Notice by the fiscal intermediary of the fact that payment may not be made under this title with respect to the services.
(B) It is clear and obvious that the provider should have known at the time the services were furnished that they were excluded from coverage.
(3) The requirements of this paragraph are as follows:
(A) The agency complies with requirements of the Secretary under this title respecting timely submittal of bills for payment and medical documentation.
(B) The agency program has reasonable procedures to notify promptly each patient (and the patient’s physician) where it is determined that a patient is being or will be furnished items or services which are excluded from coverage under this title.
(4)(A) The requirement of this paragraph is that, on the basis of bills submitted by a home health agency during the previous quarter, the rate of denial of bills for the agency by reason of a coverage denial described in subsection (g) does not exceed 2.5 percent, computed based on visits for home health services billed.
(B) For purposes of determining the rate of denial of bills for a home health agency under subparagraph (A), a bill shall not be considered to be denied until the expiration of the 60-day period that begins on the date such bill is denied by the fiscal intermediary, or, with respect to such a denial for which the agency requests reconsideration, until the fiscal intermediary issues a decision denying payment for such bill.
(5) In this subsection, the term “fiscal intermediary” means, with respect to a home health agency, an agency or organization with an agreement under section 1816 with respect to the agency.
(6) The Secretary shall monitor the proportion of denied bills submitted by home health agencies for which reconsideration is requested, and shall notify Congress if the proportion of denials reversed upon reconsideration increases significantly.
(g) The coverage denial described in this subsection is—
(1) with respect to the provision of home health services to an individual, a failure to meet the requirements of section 1814(a)(2)(C) or section 1835(a)(2)(A) in that the individual—
(A) is or was not confined to his home, or
(B) does or did not need skilled nursing care on an intermittent basis; and
(2) with respect to the provision of hospice care to an individual, a determination that the individual is not terminally ill.
(h) If a supplier of medical equipment and supplies (as defined in section 1834(j)(5))—
(1) furnishes an item or service to a beneficiary for which no payment may be made by reason of section 1834(j)(1);
(2) furnishes an item or service to a beneficiary for which payment is denied in advance under section 1834(a)(15); or
(3) furnishes an item or service to a beneficiary for which no payment may be made by reason of section 1834(a)(17)(B),
any expenses incurred for items and services furnished to an individual by such a supplier on an assignment-related basis shall be the responsibility of such supplier. The individual shall have no financial responsibility for such expenses and the supplier shall refund on a timely basis to the individual (and shall be liable to the individual for) any amounts collected from the individual for such items or services. The provisions of section 1834(a)(18) shall apply to refunds required under the previous sentence in the same manner as such provisions apply to refunds under such section.
(i)[693] The provisions of this section shall apply with respect to a denial of a payment under this title by reason of section 1814(a)(7)(E) in the same manner as such provisions apply with respect to a denial of a payment under this title by reason of section 1862(a)(1).
[688] See Vol. II, P.L. 97-248, §119, with respect to private sector review initiative and restriction against recovery from beneficiaries.
See Vol. II, P.L. 108-173, §938(c), with respect to provisions relating to advance beneficiary notices and a report on prior determination process.
[689] October 30, 1972 [P.L. 92-603; 86 Stat. 1385]
[690] P.L. 112-40, §261(a)(3)(A), struck out “utilization and quality control peer review” and inserted “quality improvement”, applicable to contracts entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2012.
[691] October 30, 1972 [P.L. 92-603; 86 Stat. 1385]
[692] P.L. 112-40, §261(a)(3)(B), struck out “quality control and peer review” and inserted “quality improvement”, applicable to contracts entered into or renewed on or after January 1, 2012.
[693] P.L. 113–185, §3(b) added subsection (i). Effective October 6, 2014.