<p>Over the past two weeks, NACDS has submitted two sets of comments to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General in response to two proposed rules. NACDS voiced support for the goal of identifying and eliminating fraud, waste and abuse in federal healthcare programs, and offered specific recommendations on proposed rules regarding <a href="https://www.nacds.org/ceo/2014/0717/oig-penalties.pdf">monetary penalties</a> and the authority to <a href="https://www.nacds.org/ceo/2014/0717/oig-exclusion.pdf">exclude providers</a> from Medicare.<br />
<br />
NACDS described the potential that monetary penalties included in the proposed rule could reach clearly excessive levels based on federal precedent. NACDS also proposed changes that would make processes more efficient for preventing transactions that involve excluded providers, and that would prevent delays in providing patients with needed medications due to the provider’s status in federal programs.</p>
