Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
CMS then required state Medicaid agencies to audit the physicians who received the payments to ensure they
met this now-two-part test, according to the complaint. TennCare was the entity in charge of auditing the
physicians to CMS standards and is ultimately responsible for enforcing the recoupment. Separately, the
physicians are seeking a stay on their consolidated TennCare Provider Appeal currently pending before the
Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration.
Rule Unfairly Impacts Patients
To best serve the patients in our small community, our office used the increased reimbursements to hire a
bilingual nurse to better communicate with Spanish-speaking patients, providing a badly needed alternative to the
emergency room, said Dr. Clarey Dowling, of Brownsville, Tenn., who has practiced medicine for almost 40
years. About 60 percent of his patients are covered by TennCare. We also invested in hiring an internal medicine
specialist to provide expertise in preventive medicine and to educate patients on the treatment and prevention of
chronic illnesses like diabetes.
Unfortunately, we couldnt afford to keep these vital providers on staff once we were facing the prospect of
having to repay funds we received two years ago, Dr. Dowling added.
The impact of this arbitrary rule on these mostly small-town, rural physicians who were trying to do the right thing
for their patients is borderline catastrophic, said David A. King, an attorney with Bass, Berry & Sims PLC.
Despite numerous warnings and simple appeals to common sense by many, including the Tennessee Medical
Association and several state Medicaid agencies, CMS has continually failed to consider or respond to comments
about how these arbitrary requirements would impact well-meaning family doctors and the underserved patients
they care for.
The lawsuit was filed by attorneys from Bass, Berry & Sims, headquartered in Nashville with offices in
Washington, D.C., Memphis and Knoxville, Tenn. King, leader of Bass Berrys Managed Care Strategy &
Disputes Team, notes that patients and physicians in many other states ultimately could be affected by this case.
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About Bass, Berry & Sims PLC
As one of the largest healthcare firms in the U.S., Bass, Berry & Sims PLC has a depth of healthcare experience
that ranges from operational and regulatory compliance to government investigations, litigation, and complex
corporate transactions. Our firm has participated in the evolution of the healthcare industry in Nashville, the
capital of entrepreneurial healthcare. We represent 25 publicly traded healthcare companies and more than 200
healthcare-related businesses including hospitals and health systems, large physician practices, ambulatory
surgery centers, dialysis companies, clinical labs, hospice, home health, senior housing, pharmaceutical,
specialty pharmacy, biotech, medical device and technology companies. We offer advice that is both
appropriately conservative and practical when working with our healthcare clients to effectively manage their
needs, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, fraud and abuse, internal and government
investigations, reimbursement, managed care contracting, licensing and certification, certificate of need and
health planning, corporate compliance programs, antitrust, tax, HIPAA privacy and security compliance and
legislative matters. Our deep bench of regulatory knowledge and experience, historical industry perspective and
lower cost platform make our firm the stronger choice in todays dramatically changing and increasingly complex
healthcare environment. For more information, visit www.bassberry.com
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For more information, including a copy of the lawsuit, contact:
Ellis Metz Jarrard Phillips Cate & Hancock, Inc.
615-254-0575
emetz@jarrardinc.com
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