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Medigap PHO Discount Program Receives OIG Approval

OIG Releases Yet Another Advisory Opinion 15-08

Medigap Arrangment Involving PHO Discounts

Medigap PHO Discount ProgramSomeone must be busy at the Office of Inspector General’s Office. Last week they released two new advisory opinions and a Special Fraud Alert. This week they released another Advisory Opinion, this time addressing sharing savings from a preferred hospital network between a Medigap insurer and its policy beneficiaries. The program at issue provided a premium credit of $100 toward the policyholder’s next renewal premium for participating in a discount program involving price reductions from a physician-hospital organization.

The second part of the program involved negotiated service rates with a physician-hospital organization (PHO). The PHO agreed to discounts of up to 100% of the Medicare Part A inpatient deductibles which would normally be paid by the Medigap plan. The PHO received an administrative fee from the Medigap plan for each discount that was provided by the PHO.

The OIG analysed the program under the civil monetary penalty (CMP) provisions and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and concluded that the arrangement would not constitute grounds for civil monetary penalties or administrative sanctions.

The OIG found that discounting of the inpatient deductible created a low risk of fraud or abuse because the Medicare Part A payments are fixed and the discount would not impact reimbursement amounts. Additionally, the OIG observed that patients would not generally haveknowledge of the discount and would not be encouraged to seek additional care. The program did not offerfinancial rewards to the physicians involved in the patient’s care and the program was open to all providers who agreed to the discount program through participation in the PHO.
The OIG also found that the premium credits that were provided to beneficiaries created minimal risk of program abuse.

The OIG also noted that the proposed arrangement has the potential of lowering costs for policyholder under the Medigap plan and that the savings would be reported to the state regulatory agency.

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John H. Fisher

Health Care Counsel
Ruder Ware, L.L.S.C.
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