Florida Senate - 2009                        COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Bill No. CS for CS for SB 1986
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Barcode 498082                          
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: RCS            .                                
                  04/15/2009           .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
                                       .                                
       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————




       —————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
       The Committee on Health and Human Services Appropriations
       (Gaetz) recommended the following:
       
    1         Senate Amendment (with directory and title amendments)
    2  
    3         Delete lines 908 - 1039
    4  and insert:
    5         the start of any investigation or created at the request of
    6  the agency.
    7         (22) The audit report, supported by agency work papers,
    8  showing an overpayment to a provider constitutes evidence of the
    9  overpayment. A provider may not present or elicit testimony,
   10  either on direct examination or cross-examination in any court
   11  or administrative proceeding, regarding the purchase or
   12  acquisition by any means of drugs, goods, or supplies; sales or
   13  divestment by any means of drugs, goods, or supplies; or
   14  inventory of drugs, goods, or supplies, unless such acquisition,
   15  sales, divestment, or inventory is documented by written
   16  invoices, written inventory records, or other competent written
   17  documentary evidence maintained in the normal course of the
   18  provider’s business. Notwithstanding the applicable rules of
   19  discovery, all documentation that will be offered as evidence at
   20  an administrative hearing on a Medicaid overpayment must be
   21  exchanged by all parties at least 14 days before the
   22  administrative hearing or must be excluded from consideration.
   23  The documentation or data that a provider may rely upon or
   24  present as evidence that an overpayment has not occurred must
   25  have been created prior to the start of any agency investigation
   26  and must be made available to the agency before issuance of a
   27  final audit report, unless the documentation or data was created
   28  at the request of the agency. Documentation or data that was
   29  recreated due to extenuating circumstances beyond the provider's
   30  control, such as a disaster or the loss of records due to change
   31  of ownership, may be presented as evidence if evidence of the
   32  extenuating circumstance is also provided. This section shall
   33  not be construed to prohibit the introduction of expert witness
   34  reports regarding an overpayment or the issues addressed in the
   35  audit.
   36         (24) If the agency imposes an administrative sanction
   37  pursuant to subsection (13), subsection (14), or subsection
   38  (15), except paragraphs (15)(e) and (o), upon any provider or
   39  any principal, officer, director, agent, managing employee, or
   40  affiliated person of the provider other person who is regulated
   41  by another state entity, the agency shall notify that other
   42  entity of the imposition of the sanction within 5 business days.
   43  Such notification must include the provider’s or person’s name
   44  and license number and the specific reasons for sanction.
   45         (25)(a) The agency shall may withhold Medicaid payments, in
   46  whole or in part, to a provider upon receipt of reliable
   47  evidence that the circumstances giving rise to the need for a
   48  withholding of payments involve fraud, willful
   49  misrepresentation, or abuse under the Medicaid program, or a
   50  crime committed while rendering goods or services to Medicaid
   51  recipients. If it is determined that fraud, willful
   52  misrepresentation, abuse, or a crime did not occur, the payments
   53  withheld must be paid to the provider within 14 days after such
   54  determination with interest at the rate of 10 percent a year.
   55  Any money withheld in accordance with this paragraph shall be
   56  placed in a suspended account, readily accessible to the agency,
   57  so that any payment ultimately due the provider shall be made
   58  within 14 days.
   59         (b) The agency shall may deny payment, or require
   60  repayment, if the goods or services were furnished, supervised,
   61  or caused to be furnished by a person who has been suspended or
   62  terminated from the Medicaid program or Medicare program by the
   63  Federal Government or any state.
   64         (c) Overpayments owed to the agency bear interest at the
   65  rate of 10 percent per year from the date of determination of
   66  the overpayment by the agency, and payment arrangements must be
   67  made at the conclusion of legal proceedings. A provider who does
   68  not enter into or adhere to an agreed-upon repayment schedule
   69  may be terminated by the agency for nonpayment or partial
   70  payment.
   71         (d) The agency, upon entry of a final agency order, a
   72  judgment or order of a court of competent jurisdiction, or a
   73  stipulation or settlement, may collect the moneys owed by all
   74  means allowable by law, including, but not limited to, notifying
   75  any fiscal intermediary of Medicare benefits that the state has
   76  a superior right of payment. Upon receipt of such written
   77  notification, the Medicare fiscal intermediary shall remit to
   78  the state the sum claimed.
   79         (e) The agency may institute amnesty programs to allow
   80  Medicaid providers the opportunity to voluntarily repay
   81  overpayments. The agency may adopt rules to administer such
   82  programs.
   83         (27) When the Agency for Health Care Administration has
   84  made a probable cause determination and alleged that an
   85  overpayment to a Medicaid provider has occurred, the agency,
   86  after notice to the provider, shall may:
   87         (a) Withhold, and continue to withhold during the pendency
   88  of an administrative hearing pursuant to chapter 120, any
   89  medical assistance reimbursement payments until such time as the
   90  overpayment is recovered, unless within 30 days after receiving
   91  notice thereof the provider:
   92         1. Makes repayment in full; or
   93         2. Establishes a repayment plan that is satisfactory to the
   94  Agency for Health Care Administration.
   95         (b) Withhold, and continue to withhold during the pendency
   96  of an administrative hearing pursuant to chapter 120, medical
   97  assistance reimbursement payments if the terms of a repayment
   98  plan are not adhered to by the provider.
   99         (30) The agency shall may terminate a provider’s
  100  participation in the Medicaid program if the provider fails to
  101  reimburse an overpayment that has been determined by final
  102  order, not subject to further appeal, within 35 days after the
  103  date of the final order, unless the provider and the agency have
  104  entered into a repayment agreement.
  105         (31) If a provider requests an administrative hearing
  106  pursuant to chapter 120, such hearing must be conducted within
  107  90 days following assignment of an administrative law judge,
  108  absent exceptionally good cause shown as determined by the
  109  administrative law judge or hearing officer. Upon issuance of a
  110  final order, the outstanding balance of the amount determined to
  111  constitute the overpayment shall become due. If a provider fails
  112  to make payments in full, fails to enter into a satisfactory
  113  repayment plan, or fails to comply with the terms of a repayment
  114  plan or settlement agreement, the agency shall may withhold
  115  medical assistance reimbursement payments until the amount due
  116  is paid in full.
  117         (36) At least three times a year, the agency shall provide
  118  to each Medicaid recipient or his or her representative an
  119  explanation of benefits in the form of a letter that is mailed
  120  to the most recent address of the recipient on the record with
  121  the Department of Children and Family Services. The explanation
  122  of benefits must include the patient’s name, the name of the
  123  health care provider and the address of the location where the
  124  service was provided, a description of all services billed to
  125  Medicaid in terminology that should be understood by a
  126  reasonable person, and information on how to report
  127  inappropriate or incorrect billing to the agency or other law
  128  enforcement entities for review or investigation. At least once
  129  a year, the letter also must include information on how to
  130  report criminal Medicaid fraud, the Medicaid Fraud Control
  131  Unit’s toll-free hotline number, and information about the
  132  rewards available under s. 409.9203. The explanation of benefits
  133  may not be mailed for Medicaid independent laboratory services
  134  as described in s. 409.905(7) or for Medicaid certified match
  135  services as described in ss. 409.9071 and 1011.70.
  136         (37)The agency shall post on its website a current list of
  137  each Medicaid provider, including any principal, officer,
  138  director, agent, managing employee, or affiliated person of the
  139  provider, or any partner or shareholder having an ownership
  140  interest in the provider equal to 5 percent or greater, who has
  141  been terminated from the Medicaid program or sanctioned under
  142  this section. The list must be searchable by a variety of search
  143  parameters and provide for the creation of formatted lists that
  144  may be printed or imported into other applications, including
  145  spreadsheets. The agency shall update the list at least monthly.
  146         (38)In order to improve the detection of health care
  147  fraud, use technology to prevent and detect fraud, and maximize
  148  the electronic exchange of health care fraud information, the
  149  agency shall:
  150         (a)Compile, maintain, and publish on its website a
  151  detailed list of all state and federal databases that contain
  152  health care fraud information and update the list at least
  153  biannually;
  154         (b)Develop a strategic plan to connect all databases that
  155  contain health care fraud information to facilitate the
  156  electronic exchange of health information between the agency,
  157  the Department of Health, the Department of Law Enforcement, and
  158  the Attorney General’s Office. The plan must include recommended
  159  standard data formats, fraud identification strategies, and
  160  specifications for the technical interface between state and
  161  federal health care fraud databases;
  162         (c)Monitor innovations in health information technology,
  163  specifically as it pertains to Medicaid fraud prevention and
  164  detection; and
  165         (d)Periodically publish policy briefs that highlight
  166  available new technology to prevent or detect health care fraud
  167  and projects implemented by other states, the private sector, or
  168  the Federal Government which use technology to prevent or detect
  169  health care fraud.
  170  ====== D I R E C T O R Y  C L A U S E  A M E N D M E N T ======
  171         And the directory clause is amended as follows:
  172         Delete lines 679 - 682
  173  and insert:
  174         Section 13. Subsections (2), (7), (11), (13), (14), (15),
  175  (21), (22), (24), (25), (27), (30), (31), and (36) of section
  176  409.913, Florida Statutes, are amended, and subsections (37) and
  177  (38) are added to that section, to read:
  178  
  179  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
  180         And the title is amended as follows:
  181         Delete lines 81 - 96
  182  and insert:
  183  the Agency for Health Care Administration; providing an
  184  exception; requiring that the agency provide notice of certain
  185  administrative sanctions to other regulatory agencies within a
  186  specified period; requiring the Agency for Health Care
  187  Administration to withhold or deny Medicaid payments under
  188  certain circumstances; requiring the agency to terminate a
  189  provider’s participation in the Medicaid program if the provider
  190  fails to repay certain overpayments from the Medicaid program;
  191  requiring the agency to provide at least annually information on
  192  Medicaid fraud in an explanation of benefits letter; requiring
  193  the Agency for Health Care Administration to post a list on its
  194  website of Medicaid providers and affiliated persons of
  195  providers who have been terminated or sanctioned; requiring the
  196  agency to take certain actions to improve the prevention and
  197  detection of health care fraud through the use of technology;
  198  amending s. 409.920, F.S.; defining the term “managed