Physicians are receiving letters citing "Section 1842 (a)(1)(c) of the SSA requiring carriers under contract to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to conduct audits to ensure that Medicare claims are being paid correctly." Most of the letters are focusing on evaluation and management services (new/established levels 4 and 5) and hospital admissions (levels 2 and 3). The MACs suggest that the audits are "educational," assisting both providers and carriers with proper submission of codes and accurate payments. Contrary to this, most of my clients have found the post-payment requests quickly graduate to pre-payment status. How soon the RACs will start participating within this new wave of focused audits remains unknown, as the data is highly suspect. Click here to read the article published by RACMonitor.