Risk Adjustment Data - Sufficiency of Documentation Supporting Diagnoses

Payments to Medicare Advantage organizations are risk adjusted on the basis of the health status of each beneficiary. Medicare Advantage organizations are required to submit risk adjustment data to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in accordance with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services instructions (42 CFR § 422.310(b)), and inaccurate diagnoses may cause Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to pay Medicare Advantage organizations improper amounts (Social Security Act §§ 1853(a)(1)(C) and (a)(3)). In general, Medicare Advantage organizations receive higher payments for sicker patients. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates that 9.5 percent of payments to Medicare Advantage organizations are improper, mainly due to unsupported diagnoses submitted by Medicare Advantage organizations. Prior OIG reviews have shown that medical record documentation does not always support the diagnoses submitted to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services by Medicare Advantage organizations. We will review the medical record documentation to ensure that it supports the diagnoses that Medicare Advantage organizations submitted to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for use in Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services's risk score calculations and determine whether the diagnoses submitted complied with Federal requirements.

Announced or Revised	Agency	Title	Component	Report Number(s)	Expected Issue Date (FY)
Completed (partial)	Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	Risk Adjustment Data - Sufficiency of Documentation Supporting Diagnoses	Office of Audit Services	A-07-16-01165; W-00-16-35078; various reviews A-07-17-01169; A-03-18-00002; A-05-18-00020; A-04-18-03085; A-04-20-07090; A-06-18-02001; W-00-18-35078; A-09-18-03007; A-04-19-07082; W-00-19-35078	2025