Once again attorney Knicole Emanuel has posted a chilling blog about Medicare provider appeals. Medicare audits and appeals are civil actions and apparently the rights we are used to as U.S. citizens work differently in civil court when compared to criminal court. In criminal court, the 6th Amendment states that you have the right to face your accuser. Apparently we need to have similar laws passed for civil courts.
Practitioners who must defend themselves in front of an administrative law judge do not get to face their “accuser,” the auditor. The way these audits work, it’s assumed you are guilty and you have to prove you are not – in a one way conversation. And you will need a lawyer…
–Caroline
