Cost Estimate on SGR fix increases
With less than two weeks to go before the Continuing Extension Act of 2010 expires, a great number of people are on the edge of their seats wondering what will happen June 1. Will Medicare cut...
View ArticleJune 2010 Claims Being Held
The Continuing Extension Act of 2010, enacted April 15, extended the zero percent update to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) through May 31. Congress is working on legislation that would...
View ArticlePhysicians’ Pay Rates in Limbo This Week
The Continuing Extension Act of 2010, which extended the zero percent update to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), expired May 31. Legislation on the table that would prevent a 21 percent...
View ArticlePhysicians’ Medicare Pay Rates Cut 21 Percent
The U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate were unable to resolve their differences in the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loop Holes Act of 2010 (tax extenders bill) in time to further delay a...
View ArticleCMS Proposed Rule Projects Physician Pay Cut in 2011
The 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule, issued June 25 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), projects a negative 6.1 percent update to physician payment...
View ArticleRAC Expands to Medicaid by Year-End
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (health reform law) enacted earlier this year mandates the expansion of recovery audit contractor (RAC) audits beyond Medicare to Medicaid by the end of...
View ArticleMedicare Physician Pay Cut Looms Again
With less than two months before the current Medicare pay patch expires, all ears are on Congress as physicians and physician advocates anxiously await to hear encouraging news from Capitol Hill. Are...
View ArticleCongress Postpones Physician Pay Cut
A 23 percent cut in Medicare payments to physicians scheduled to take effect Dec. 1 has been postponed for one month. The U.S. House of Representatives agreed without objection Nov. 29 to an amended...
View ArticleMedPAC: End Free Ride for Home Health
Medicare beneficiaries who receive home health services face hefty copays in the near future if Congress takes up a recent recommendation from its own advisory committee. A transcript prepared by...
View ArticleCongress Proposes ASC Reimbursement Overhaul
A bipartisan proposal in Congress may enact two long-awaited changes in ambulatory surgical center (ASC) reimbursement: Medicare payment updates tied to hospital market and a value-based purchasing...
View ArticleMedPAC Recommends New Imaging Payment System
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) considers several health care matters in its June 2011 Report to the Congress: “Medicare and the Healthcare Delivery System,” but what is making the...
View ArticleCBO Projects Physician Pay Cut for 2012
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projects that, under current law, payment rates for physician services provided to Medicare beneficiaries will be reduced by 29.4 percent in 2012. The large pay...
View ArticleHouse Votes: Physician Pay Cut Put Off
The Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) cut of payments to physicians servicing Medicare payments is not going to happen, at least for two months. The House of Representatives passed a bill similar to one...
View Article2012 Annual Participation Enrollment Program Extended
To better allow physicians to manage the uncertainty of threatened Medicare fee reductions slated for the 2012 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...
View ArticlePhysician Pay Set Through 2012
One worry providers can set aside is the Medicare pay cut of 27.4 percent that was set to go into effect March 1. Congress and President Obama have approved the “Doc Fix” legislation, postponing cuts...
View ArticlePhysician Self Referrals and Compliance: What You Should Know
To keep designated health services in the clear, know Stark regulations and their exceptions. By Julie E. Chicoine, Esq., RN, CPC Physicians and their practices are undergoing increased government...
View ArticleMedicare Trustees: Reform Needed to Stave Financial Ruin
A report issued April 23 by Social Security and Medicare trustees paints a bleak picture for the future of health care. If expenditures continue to outpace revenues, trustees project the Hospital...
View ArticlePlan to Scrap SGR Moves Ahead
Bipartisan leadership of three Senate and House committees want to revamp how Medicare pays physicians, and they’ve introduced legislation to do just that. The proposed legislation would repeal the...
View ArticleSpeak Out About ICD-10
Contact those who can help the United States join the rest of the ICD-10 world. By Jeanne Yoder, RHIA, CPC, CPC-I, CCS-P Do you want to do something that takes five minutes, and will make our country a...
View ArticleNCVHS Urges Burwell to Promote ICD-10
The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) called on Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell to communicate the need to implement ICD-10 to the United States Congress...
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