HHS’ Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released an updated list of its Active Work Plan Items reflective of OIG’s audits, evaluations, and inspections that are underway or planned in determination of providers’ compliance with temporary authorities during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The newly-announced items include:

– Hospital Recipients of Provider Relief Funds (PRF)—General and Targeted Distributions. OIG will audit a statistical sample of PRF recipients to determine whether providers that received PRF payments complied with federal requirements including “the terms and conditions for reporting and expending federal funds.” OIG expects the report to be issued fiscal year 2021. Although the title of the report title specifies hospitals, the description is unclear about whether the audit will indeed be limited to hospitals or other providers that have received PRF payments.

– Audit of Medicare Payments for Inpatient Discharges Billed by Hospitals for Beneficiaries Diagnosed With COVID-19. OIG will audit whether payments made by Medicare for COVID-19 inpatient discharges billed by hospitals complied with federal requirements. Notably, Section 3710 of the CARES Act directed the Secretary to increase the weighting factor that would otherwise apply to the assigned DRG by 20 percentage points for an individual who is diagnosed with COVID-19 and discharged during the COVID-19 public health emergency.