Feds Begin Fingerprinting 'High Risk' Medicare Providers and Suppliers

Four years after Obamacare became law, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is notifying Medicare providers and suppliers of new fingerprint-based background checks. Eventually, all individuals who hold a five percent or greater stake in a Medicare supplier or provider that is categorized as "high risk" will be subject to the requirement. The provision is part of the Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP Program Integrity Provisions (Title E) of the Affordable Care Act, and gives the HHS secretary broad discretion in applying the background check requirements depending on the potential for abuse, fraud, and/or waste.

The new requirements are spelled out in a document posted online on the website of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) last Friday. The new rules will apply to both current and future enrollees who are classified as "high risk," the stated purpose being to weed out "bad actors" in the Medicare program and prevent any more from enrolling.

This particular document is a "News Flash" from CMS's Medicare Learning Network and is addressed to suppliers and providers who submit claims for "Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractors (DME MACs) and Home Health and Hospice (HH&H) MACs for services provided to Medicare beneficiaries." There is no effective date or implementation date listed on the document; rather, the document states that "fingerprint-based background check implementation will be phased in beginning in 2014," and that those affected will receive letters after which the individuals will have thirty days to comply with the finger-printing requirement. The fingerprints will be submitted to the FBI for a background check and will be stored by the government in accordance with federal requirements and FBI guidelines.

Although initially the new regulations will only be applied to providers and suppliers of "Durable Medicare Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers or Home Health Agencies (HHA)," the "high risk" category is defined at the discretion of the HHS secretary and may be expanded in the future.

Read more at: http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/feds-begin-fingerprinting-high-risk-medicare-providers-and-suppliers_786924.html

How to Select the Right Tenant for Your Property

As a landlord, you are essentially giving a stranger the keys to your property. Taking the time to select the right tenant for your property is an important way to protect your investment. Here are some ways to differentiate the good tenants from the ones who could cause you problems down the line.

1. Adhere to the Federal Fair Housing Rules

Your desire to find the right tenant for your property does not make you exempt from adhering to the Federal Fair Housing Act. You must always adhere to this Act to avoid charges of discrimination. In short, you cannot discriminate based on:

Race or color
National origin
Religion
Sex
Familial status (families with children)
Disability

In addition, many states have their own Fair Housing Rules that you must comply with, so make sure you know and adhere to your local laws as well.

2. The Right Tenant Has Good Credit

You want to look for a tenant who is financially responsible. If they are responsible with paying their bills, they will most likely pay their rent on time and be responsible with your apartment.

A. Verify Their Income

Ask for copies of their pay stubs
Call their employer directly to confirm their employment, length of employment, their attendance record and monthly earnings.

-Ideally, their monthly income should be at least three times the monthly rent. 

B. Run a Credit Check

See if they have a history of paying their bills on time.
Check their income/debt ratio.

-Even if their income is three times the monthly rent, you have to factor in how much debt they have.

-For example, the rent is $1000 per month. Tenant A is making $3000 a month, but has $2000 in debt payments every month. They most likely would not be able to afford to rent the apartment. Tenant B makes $2500 a month, but has no debt. They could be an excellent candidate to pay the rent even though their income is not three times the monthly rent.
Look for prior evictions, civil judgments against or bankruptcies.

3. Perform a Criminal Background Check

Criminal information is a matter of public record, and can be viewed at various court houses. This check will turn up both serious and minor offenses. You will need the tenant’s name and date of birth. Keep in mind that those with a criminal record will often try to falsify this information when looking to rent an apartment so make sure to check a valid ID to verify that they are who they say they are.

A thorough criminal check should include:

Federal Court Record Search
A Statewide Criminal Record Search
A County Criminal Court Search
A Department of Corrections Offender Search
Sexual Offender Database Search

3 points of caution:

Certain states, such as California, prohibit landlords from discriminating against renters with certain criminal convictions. As a landlord, you may have an easier time justifying your rejection of a prospective tenant with a drug or violent crime conviction than you would rejecting a tenant with 50 speeding tickets.
There is no nationwide database of criminal records, so it may be hard to uncover the tenant’s full story.
Doing a criminal check yourself can be very time consuming. It may be best to hire a reputable tenant screening company to perform this check for you. It can often be combined with the credit check, for a fee of course.

4. Check Out Their Rental History

You should talk to at least two of their previous landlords. This is because, if the applicant was a problem tenant, the current landlord may not be so forthcoming with the truth as they may just want to get the tenant off of their hands.

Questions you should ask:

Did they pay their rent on time?
What was the reason for the move? Were they evicted for non-payment of rent or for breaking the landlord’s rules?
Did they give 30 days notice prior to moving?
How did they keep their apartment? Were they clean?
Did they cause any damage to the apartment other than normal wear and tear?
Were they respectful of their neighbors?
Did they complain often?

Of course, if the applicant is a first time renter, a student or a recent graduate, they may not have a rental history. In this case, you can require a co-signer for the lease.

5. The Right Tenant Has a Consistent Lifestyle

On their application form, look at their prior addresses and employment history. Do they move or switch jobs often? If they move often, this pattern is likely to continue and they will not be a long term tenant. If they have not shown consistent employment, they may not be able to afford the apartment in three months and you will be left starting your tenant search from scratch or dealing with an eviction.

6. Look for a Maximum of Two People Per Bedroom

Although HUD does not have specific regulations regarding the number of occupants per bedroom, a rule of a maximum of two people per bedroom is considered reasonable under the Fair Housing Act with the following exceptions:

State and local law-
If a state or locale has specific housing codes, then the landlord must adhere to them.
Size and configuration of dwelling -
A 500 square foot bedroom can hold more occupants than a 250 square foot room.
A unit with a living room and den could hold more occupants than one without.
Age and number of children-
Refusing to rent to two adults with an infant for a one bedroom could be considered discriminatory, whereas refusing to rent to two adults with a teenager for a one bedroom would be considered reasonable.
You can give a maximum number of people per apartment, but you cannot give a maximum number of children per apartment.
Limitations of the septic/sewer system-
If capacity of the system limits the number of occupants the dwelling can tolerate.

The more people per apartment, the more noise and the greater the wear and tear on your investment.

Considering all of these factors will help you choose the right tenant for your property and hopefully save you time and money by avoiding costly evictions, non-payment and damage to your property.

Get more information at: http://landlords.about.com/od/Landlord101/a/How-To-Select-The-Right-Tenant-For-Your-Property.htm

NEW SYSTEM FEATURE! - QUICKVIEW

We are excited to announce a new system feature which will streamline your background screening process. As you know, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, applicants are authorized to receive a copy of any background screening report that is obtained on them. We have made the process of complying with this requirement as easy as 1 - 2 - 3!

1. On the main Report Results screen, you will see a drop down titled "Disclosures and Forms," choose Consumer Copy and then click Email Letter.

2. Enter applicant's email address.

3. An email is sent to the applicant with a secure link using our new QuickView feature. The applicant will need to provide identifying information in order to view the report.

This new feature saves you time and money by cutting down printing and postage expenses and limiting your responsibility of handling the applicant's confidential information. It also creates an audit log to track compliance. All activity (when the email is sent, when it is viewed by the applicant, etc.) is logged in Report Notes. This feature is optimized for use on all tablets, desktops and modern browsers.

If you have any questions about this new feature or any of our services, please do not hesitate to contact us. We're here to help.

10 Fun Facts about Fingerprints

Fun Fact 1: Ridges

Fingerprints are defined as the impressions made by the ridges on the ends of our fingers. Those ridges provide humans with the friction and traction to grasp objects without having them slip between their fingers. It is also believed by many scientists that those ridges enhance our sense of touch.

Fun Fact 2: Patterns and Classification

Scientists have known about fingerprints since the 19th century. As early as 1892, English scientist Sir Francis Galton wrote a book about using fingerprints to solve crimes. It was not until 1896, however, that Sir Edward Richard Henry would develop a way to classify fingerprints based upon their general ridge patterns: loops, whorls and arches.

Fun Fact 3: Uniqueness

Fingerprints are unique to each individual. That means that no one else in the world has the exact same set of fingerprints. No two fingerprints have ever been found identical in many billions of human and automated computer comparisons.

Fun Fact 4: Formation

The human fetus will begin to acquire fingerprints three months into gestation. They form from pressure on a baby's tiny, developing fingers in the womb. It is the slight difference in the womb environment that causes identical twins to be born with similar, but not identical, fingerprints. Fingerprints will never change from the time of birth until death. Their uniqueness and lasting quality make fingerprints one of the best ways to identify a person.

Fun Fact 5: Residue

Natural oils in the skin that are produced by the skin’s sebaceous glands combined with the salts produced from our sweat glands form a residue which is left on objects forming a latent fingerprint.

Fun Fact 6: Dactyloscopy

Although it has been modified slightly over time, the system of fingerprint identification, called Dactyloscopy, is still used by law enforcement agencies all over the world. The name is of Greek origin, stemming from the Greek work 'daktylos' meaning “finger” and 'skopein' meaning “to examine.”

Fun Fact 7: Fingerprints First Used As Identification

Fingerprints weren't used as a method for identifying criminals until the 19th century. In 1858, an Englishman named Sir William Herschel was working as the Chief Magistrate in Jungipoor, India. In order to reduce fraud, he had the residents record their fingerprints when signing business documents.

Fun Fact 8: First Fingerprint Used In A Criminal Case

In 1892, Juan Vucetich, a police officer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was called in to assist with the investigation of two boys murdered in a small village near Buenos Aires. Suspicion had fallen initially on a man named Velasquez, a love interest of the boys' mother, Francisca Rojas. But when Vucetich compared fingerprints found at the murder scene to those of both Velasquez and Rojas, they matched Rojas' exactly. She confessed to the crime. This was the first time fingerprints had been used in a criminal investigation.

Fun Fact 9: J. Edgar Hoover

John Edgar Hoover was the director of the FBI for almost 48 years, and from 1924 until the time of his death in 1972, he was responsible for establishing one of the best forensic laboratories in the world, as well as a national fingerprint registry. The FBI’s fingerprint database is the largest in the world.

Fun Fact 10: Animal Kingdom

Humans are not the only ones with fingerprints! Some primates, including gorillas and chimpanzees, and koala bears have their own unique prints.

Gorillas have hands that are quite similar to human hands. They have five fingers (including an opposable thumb), and five toes (including an opposable big toe). Gorillas can grasp things with both their hands and their feet. They are capable of grasping these objects because they have ridges on their feet and hands that help them grip things. These ridges are formed in unique patterns and cause gorillas to have fingerprints of their own.

The koala has fingerprints that are so similar to the human fingerprint that it is almost impossible to tell them apart because of the pattern, shape and size of the ridges. Under the microscope, the ridges look exactly the same. The width of the ridge, the shape, general size and pattern is the same. The main difference is that the entire human palm and fingers are covered with ridges while the koala only has ridges on its fingertips and some parts of the palm.

Common Myths and Misconceptions with Conducting a Background Screen

Conducting a background screen can sometimes be a quite formidable and intimidating process. There are many myths and misconceptions that surround the background screening process. However, employers and job seekers can relax and rest assured that the many misconceptions and myths are just that. Here are some of the most common myths and misconceptions of a background screen.

Myth #1: All background screening companies provide the same information, so the cheapest cost is the best

It is very common to think that every background screening company is the same and that the one that costs the least is the best. This is false there is multiple different databases that populate criminal information and instant background checks are non-existent. FCRA has guidelines in place that all consumer reporting agencies must follow, meaning that every company should be up to the same standard but not every company follows these guidelines. If something seems too good to be true then it most likely is. Choosing a background screen company just because of its price can put employers at risk for overall inaccurate and faulty results, bad hires and even the possibility of legal action meaning a lawsuit!

Myth #2: Every background check is the same

A background check can include a multitude of different things such as criminal checks, credit scores, credential checks and previous employment verification. Most background screens will be determined by the type of job they are required for. Choose a background screening company that meets your specific and individualized staffing needs. Choosing a background screening company that can meet your needs and screen for the factors that are important to your particular company and the job description can insure that you’re a hiring the most elite candidates while reducing costly turnovers.

Myth #3. Applicants can’t dispute findings

Every so often especially with more common names such as “John Smith”, records will show up and be reported for the wrong person. Legally, candidates are allowed to obtain a copy of their report and are also able to dispute any of the findings. Findings includes all verifications that are provided by the background screening company such as criminal, MVR, education and employment.

Myth #4. All the information you need is online

This is false because many of the searches that are done online are through databases that can be out of date of incomplete. There are many factors that can make a background search online be inadequate such as maiden names of date of birth. A reliable background screen is always verified professionally.

Myth #5. Only large companies need to screen candidates

Whether it is a large or small company all can be benefited from background screening potential employees. Background screening is built to help an employer make a more informed and skilled hire. It is much better to invest initially with a small fee for a background screen then it is to pay later on down the road potentially risking thousands of dollars worth of damages and months of invaluable time.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SEARCHING ALIASES IN BACKGROUND SCREENING PROCESS

A key element in a background screening process is searching alias names. Alias names can include maiden names, previous names or names your applicant may otherwise be known as. It is important to bear in mind that nearly every US court files records by the name the person was using at the time of conviction. Therefore, failing to search maiden or alias names creates a major gap in surfacing criminal record information. Although the additional search may cost you a little more up front, it will help ensure that you are not placing criminals in your home, property or business and can potentially save you a lot of money and grief in the end.

A name change isn’t necessary grounds to believe that criminal behavior is lurking, but someone who frequently uses more than one name, or has changed their name legally may be someone with a past they are trying to hide. Aliases are commonly used by criminals to enable them to continue their scams, or to hide information about themselves.

We, at MacData Background Screening, pride ourselves on providing our clients with the most complete reports possible. Therefore, we will now notify you if an additional alias name appears on the Person Search and ask for approval to search that name in our InstaCriminal National/Sexual Offender database. We have also reduced the cost for each additional name search to $6.00 to make this more affordable for our clients. 

If you have any questions or would like more detailed information about these changes, please do not hesitate to contact us. We’re here to help.

Three Common Mistakes Made When Conducting Background Checks

The importance of pre-employment screening cannot be overstated. To ensure the candidates you hire for your organization don’t bring baggage you can’t deal with, be sure to complete a thorough background check and avoid these three costly mistakes.

Having No Regular Background Screening Policy in Place

The implementation of a comprehensive background check process is an important step in reducing the potential risk of a poor hiring decision. The only way to ensure uniform background checks is by having a standard written policy and procedures. Doing so helps to create a safe and secure work environment and ensures that your employees are qualified to perform the jobs for which they are hired. 

Neglecting to Verify Education and Work References 

Experts estimate that 20% to over 50% of job applicants lie to embellish their credentials. Employers need to screen employment applications to discern lying, exaggeration, and enlargement of experience, education, and credentials. Fake degrees are on the rise; even bogus job references are prevalent in today’s job market.

Overlooking Temporary and Volunteer Workers 

For the past 5 years, the staffing industry added an average of 1,000 to 2,000 jobs per day. Approximately 53% of those who remained in the workforce move on to permanent positions. Temporary and contracted workers make up 10-30 percent of the average work force in U.S. companies. Background screening is less costly in comparison to the amount that it will cost you if a contractor or temporary employee harms a fellow employee, client, or defrauds your company.  The cost to replace an unsuitable hire averages more than $7,000.

Don’t make the same mistakes when you conduct background checks. Let us help you get it right. If you need assistance with fast, accurate, comprehensive background checks, investigative screening and verification services, contact us.