Medicare Credit Balance Report
Submitted to CMS, the Report is supposed to contain “all Medicare credit balances shown in [the provider hospital’s] accounting records…as of the last day of the reporting quarter”–regardless of when they occurred and going back to the time when the provider began participating in the Medicare program. As with the Cost Report, the Credit Balance Report contains a statement to be signed by an officer or administrator of the provider certifying under penalty of criminal prosecution that “it is a true, correct, and complete statement prepared from the books and records of the provider in accordance with applicable Federal laws, regulations and instructions.” Many qui tam lawsuits have been brought alleging a provider’s failure to return Medicare Credit balances.