On September 29, Congress passed new legislation, entitled Continuing Appropriation Act 2021 and Other Extensions Act (the “Act”) that, in part, relaxed the recoupment process for payments received from the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Program (“APP”). Advis has summarized the Act’s key terms below.

Repayment of Accelerated and Advance Payments

• Recoupment Period: Under this short-term government funding bill, the recoupment period for APP payments is extended from a period of 120 days to one year from issuance of the payment.
• Recoupment Terms: The Act lowers recoupment rates from the current 100% rate to 25% for the first 11 months after entering the repayment period. After the initial 11 month period, the recoupment rate increases to 50% for an additional 6 months, before reaching the full 100% rate.
• Repayment Period: Providers now have 29 months after the initiation of recoupment to repay the balance in full.
• Interest Rate: Interest will begin to accrue at 4% after the 29-month period has passed.

Data Publication

The following information will be posted by the Secretary on the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) website within two weeks:

• The total amount of payments made under the APP (including a specification of the percentage of payments made from the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund);
• The amount of payments made under the APP, broken down by type of provider or supplier; and
• The amount of payments received by each provider or supplier, broken down by CMS Certification Number, or other identifying number.

Advis will monitor any developments related to the Act and provide updates as available. Please contact our office for any assistance at 708-478-7030 or online.

Published: October 1, 2020