407-120-0350 Payments and Overpayments (1) Authorization of Payment. (a) Some services or items covered by the Department require authorization before a service, item, or level of care can be provided or before payment shall be made. Providers must check the appropriate program-specific rules or contracts for information on services or items requiring prior authorization and the process to follow to obtain authorization. (b) Documentation submitted when requesting authorization must support the program-specific or contract justification for the service, item, or level of care. A request is considered complete if it contains all necessary documentation and meets any other requirements as described in the appropriate program-specific rules or contract. (c) The authorizing program shall authorize the covered level of care, type of service, or item that meets the client's program-eligible need. The authorizing program shall only authorize services which meet the program-specific or contract coverage criteria and for which the required documentation has been submitted. The authorizing program may request additional information from the provider to determine the appropriateness of authorizing the service, item, or level of care within the scope of program coverage. (d) Authorizing programs shall not authorize services or make payment for authorized services under the following circumstances: (A) The client was not eligible at the time services were provided. The provider must check the client's eligibility each time services are provided; (B) The provider cannot produce appropriate documentation to support that the level of care, type of service, or item meets the program-specific or contract criteria, or the appropriate documentation was not submitted to the authorizing program; (C) The delivery of the service, item, or level of care has not been adequately documented as described in OAR 407-120-0370. Requirements for financial, clinical and other records, and the documentation in the provider's files is not adequate to determine the type, medical appropriateness, or quantity of services, or items provided or the required documentation is not in the provider's files; (D) The services or items identified in the claim are not consistent with the information submitted when authorization was requested or the services or items provided are retrospectively determined not to be authorized under the program-specific or contract criteria; (E) The services or items identified in the claim are not consistent with those which were provided; (F) The services or items were not provided within the timeframe specified on the authorization of services document; or (G) The services or items were not authorized or provided in compliance with the program-specific rules or contracts. (e) Payment made for services or items described in subsections (d)(A) through (G) of this rule shall be recovered. (f) Retroactive Department Client Eligibility. (A) When a client is determined to be retroactively eligible for a Department program, or is retroactively disenrolled from a PHP or services provided after the client was disenrolled from a PHP, authorization for payment may be given if the following conditions are met: (i) The client was eligible on the date of service and the program-specific rules or contract authorize the Department to reimburse the provider for services provided to clients made retroactively eligible; (ii) The services or items provided to the client meet all other program-specific or contract criteria and Oregon Administrative Rules; (iii) The request for authorization is received by the appropriate Department branch or program office within 90 days of the date of service; and (iv) The provider is enrolled with the Department on the date of service, or becomes enrolled with the Department no later than the date of service as provided in OAR 407-120-0320(11). (B) Requests for authorization received after 90 days from date of service require all the documentation required in subsection (f)(A)(i), (ii) and (iv) and documentation from the provider stating why the authorization could not have been obtained within 90 days of the date of service. (g) Service authorization is valid for the time period specified on the authorization notice, but shall not exceed 12 months, unless the client's benefit package no longer covers the service, in which case the authorization terminates on the date coverage ended. (h) Service authorization for clients with other insurance or for Medicare beneficiaries is governed by program-specific rules or contracts. (2) Payments. (a) This rule only applies to covered services and items provided to eligible clients within the program-specific or contract covered services or items in effect on the date of service that are paid for by the Department based on program-specific or contract fee schedules or other reimbursement methods, or for services that are paid for by the Department at the request of a county for county-authorized services in accordance with program-specific or provider-specific rules or contracts. (b) If the client's service or item is paid for by a PHP, the provider must comply with the payment requirements established under contract with that PHP, and in accordance with OAR 410-120 and 410-141, applicable to non-participating providers. (c) The Department shall pay for services or items based on the reimbursement rates and methods specified in the applicable program-specific rules or contract. Provider reimbursement on behalf of a county must include county service authorization information. (d) Providers must accept, as payment in full, the amounts paid by the Department in accordance with the fee schedule or reimbursement method specified in the program-specific rules or contract, plus any deductible, co-payment, or coinsurance required to be paid by the client. Payment in full includes: (A) Zero payments for claims where a third party or other resource has paid an amount equivalent to or exceeding the Department's allowable payment; or (B) Denials of payment for failure to submit a claim in a timely manner, failure to obtain payment authorization in a timely and appropriate manner, or failure to follow other required procedures identified in the program-specific rules or contracts. (e) The Department shall not make payments for duplicate services or items. The Department shall not make a separate payment or co-payment to a provider for services included in the provider's all-inclusive rate if the provider has been or shall be reimbursed by other resources for the service or item. (f) Prepayment and Post-Payment Review. Payment by the Department does not limit the Department or any state or federal oversight entity from reviewing or auditing a claim before or after the payment. Payment may be denied or subject to recovery if medical, clinical, program-specific or contract review, audit, or other post-payment review determines the service or item was not provided in accordance with applicable rules or contracts or does not meet the program-specific or contract criteria for quality of care, or appropriateness of the care, or authorized basis for payment. (3) Recovery of Overpayments to Providers — Recoupments and Refunds (a) The Department may deny payment or may deem payments subject to recovery as an overpayment if a review or audit determines the item or service was not provided in accordance with the Department's rules, terms of contract, or does not meet the criteria for quality of care, or appropriateness of the care or payment. Related provider billings shall also be denied or subject to recovery. (b) If a provider determines that a submitted claim or encounter is incorrect, the provider must submit an individual adjustment request and refund the amount of the overpayment, if any, or adjust the claim or encounter, consistent with the requirements in program-specific rules or contracts. (c) The Department may determine, as a result of review or other information, that a payment should be denied or that an overpayment has been made to a provider, which indicates that a provider may have submitted claims or encounters, or received payment to which the provider is not properly entitled. Such payment denial or overpayment determinations may be based on but not limited to the following: (A) The Department paid the provider an amount in excess of the amount authorized under a contract, state plan or Department rule; (B) A third party paid the provider for services, or portion thereof, previously paid by the Department; (C) The Department paid the provider for services, items, or drugs that the provider did not perform or provide; (D) The Department paid for claims submitted by a data processing agent for whom a written provider or billing agent or billing service agreement was not on file at the time of submission; (E) The Department paid for services and later determined they were not part of the client's program-specific or contract-covered services; (F) Coding, data processing submission, or data entry errors; (G) Medical, dental, or professional review determines the service or item was not provided in accordance with the Department's rules or contract or does not meet the program-specific or contract criteria for coverage, quality of care, or appropriateness of the care or payment; (H) The Department paid the provider for services, items, or drugs when the provider did not comply with the Department's rules and requirements for reimbursement; or (I) The provider submitted inaccurate, incomplete or false encounter data to the Department. (d) Prior to identifying an overpayment, the Department may contact the provider requesting preliminary information and additional documentation. The provider must provide the requested documentation within the specified time frame. (e) When an overpayment is identified, the Department shall notify the provider in writing as to the nature of the discrepancy, the method of computing the overpayment, and any further action that the Department may take on the matter. The notice may require the provider to submit applicable documentation for review prior to requesting an appeal from the Department, and may impose reasonable time limits for when documentation must be provided for Department consideration. The notice shall inform the provider of the process for appealing the overpayment determination. (f) The Department may recover overpayments made to a provider by direct reimbursement, offset, civil action, or other legal action: (A) The provider must make a direct reimbursement to the Department within 30 calendar days from the date of the notice of the overpayment, unless other regulations apply. (B) The Department may grant the provider an additional period of time to reimburse the Department upon written request made within 30 calendar days from the date of the notice of overpayment. The provider must include a statement of the facts and reasons sufficient to show that repayment of the overpayment amount should be delayed pending appeal because: (i) The provider shall suffer irreparable injury if the overpayment notice is not delayed; (ii) There is a reason to believe that the overpayment is incorrect or is less than the amount in the notice, and the provider has timely filed an appeal of the overpayment, or that the provider accepts the amount of the overpayment but is requesting to make repayment over a period of time; (iii) A proposed method for assuring that the amount of the overpayment can be repaid when due with interest including but not limited to a bond, irrevocable letter of credit, or other undertaking, or a repayment plan for making payments, including interest, over a period of time; (iv) Granting the delay shall not result in substantial public harm; and (v) Affidavits containing evidence relied upon in support of the request for stay. (C) The Department may consider all information in the record of the overpayment determination, including provider cooperation with timely provision of documentation, in addition to the information supplied in provider's request. If provider requests a repayment plan, the Department may require conditions acceptable to the Department before agreeing to a repayment plan. The Department must issue an order granting or denying a repayment delay request within 30 calendar days after receiving it; (D) A request for hearing or administrative review does not change the date the repayment of the overpayment is due; and (E) The Department may withhold payment on pending claims and on subsequently received claims for the amount of the overpayment when overpayments are not paid as a result of subsection (B)(i); (f) In addition to any overpayment, the Department may impose a sanction on the provider in connection with the actions that resulted in the overpayment. The Department may, at its discretion, combine a notice of sanction with a notice of overpayment. (g) Voluntary submission of an adjustment claim or encounter transaction or an individual adjustment request or overpayment amount after notice from the Department does not prevent the Department from issuing a notice of sanction The Department may take such voluntary payment into account in determining the sanction. Statutory/Other Authority: ORS 409.050 & 411.060 Statutes/Other Implemented: ORS 414.115, 414.125, 414.135 & 414.145 History: DHSD 11-2008, f. 12-26-08, cert. ef. 12-27-08 DHSD 6-2008(Temp), f. & cert. ef. 7-1-08 thru 12-27-08 DHSD 15-2007, f. 12-31-07, cert. ef. 1-1-08