HAC Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the HAC exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📋 HAC Exam Format at a Glance
📚 HAC Topics to Study (69)
✍️ Sample HAC Questions & Answers
1. When a Medicaid beneficiary receives services from a non-participating (out-of-network) provider in a non-emergency situation, the typical outcome is:
In most Medicaid managed care plans, out-of-network non-emergency services are denied, and federal rules generally prohibit providers from balance-billing Medicaid patients.
2. Which National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edit prevents billing two codes together when one is considered a component of the other?
Column 1/Column 2 edits (Comprehensive/Component edits) bundle a component code (Column 2) into a more comprehensive code (Column 1), preventing separate billing.
3. Which of the following transactions between a tax-exempt hospital and its board chair at below-market rates would most likely trigger IRS scrutiny under the private benefit doctrine?
Providing an economic benefit to a board member at below-market rates constitutes private benefit and may constitute an excess benefit transaction under IRC Section 4958.
4. The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) calculates payments using three components of the Relative Value Unit (RVU). Which of the following is NOT one of those components?
MPFS uses Work, Practice Expense, and Malpractice RVUs — there is no separate 'Overhead Facility RVU' component.
5. Which GAAP principle requires a hospital to recognize physician bonus expense in the period the bonus was earned, even if it is paid in the next fiscal year?
The matching principle requires expenses to be recorded in the same period as the related revenue, so bonuses earned in the current year must be accrued regardless of the payment date.
6. Under the False Claims Act, what is the minimum per-claim civil monetary penalty for knowingly submitting a false claim to Medicare or Medicaid?
As of recent adjustments, the False Claims Act civil penalty range is approximately $13,946 to $27,894 per claim (inflation-adjusted), with the lower bound near $11,803 in earlier adjustment periods.