General Question for the Week of October 28, 2019

Question:

Can you tell me more about the new enforcement authorities CMS recently created?

Answer:

The final rule of the Program Integrity Enhancements to the Provider Enrollment Process (CMS-6058-FC) created new revocation and denial authorities to further advance the efforts of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to stop waste, fraud, and abuse. CMS notes that “a new ‘affiliations’ authority in the rule allows CMS to identify individuals and organizations that pose an undue risk of fraud, waste or abuse based on their relationships with other previously sanctioned entities.” Next week’s question will give more details on these updates.