CMS May Have No Statute Of Limitations On Medicare Set-aside Arrangements

Recently, I had posted a few times on the Centers for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS). One question that remained in my mind was how many look-back years CMS would be allowed for their enforcement of MSA's. I was under the impression the statute of limitations was six years from the original claim date. A recent townn hall teleconference by CMS may have changed my conclusion.

One of the CMS representatives indicated the six year statute actually runs from the date of settlement. When questioned further, CMS said that there were other actions that they could take even if the six year statute had expired. The six year statute of limitations only applies to court actions. I paraphrased the exact quote somewhat.

One has to wonder what this actually meant. With a Federal Government that is sorely short on funds, would pursuing all files for all years where CMS's interests were not protected end up as a cash cow? I definitely think so.