Posts Tagged ‘CMS’

Highmark Medicare Services recently announced that Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) amounts are currently unavailable on its Web site because the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is expected to issue a correction.

Read more »

To ensure proper reimbursement, billing staff will need to update their standard knowledge of Advance Beneficiary Notice (ABN) modifiers. A Medicare policy revision due to take effect in 2010 changes modifier usage when reporting certain types of liability notices for non-covered services to a Medicare payer. Read more »

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has initiated a national coverage analysis (NCA) for the use of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for Medicare patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS).

MDS refers to a heterogeneous group of acquired bone marrow disorders characterized by dysplastic growth of hematopoietic progenitors and a hypercellular bone marrow with peripheral cytopenia. Medicare patients age 65 and older represent 80 percent of the total population receiving an MDS diagnosis. One potential therapy for MDS is allogeneic HSCT.

This analysis is in response to an NCA request letter industry stakeholders composed and sent to CMS.

Currently, allogeneic HSCT for MDS is neither a covered or non-covered indication under the national coverage determination (NCD) for Stem Cell Transplantation (110.8.1). As it is not in either of these two categories, it may be covered at local contractor discretion. National Government Services (NGS), jurisdiction 13 Part A/Part B Medicare Administrative Contractor (A/B MAC), recently developed a local coverage determination (LCD) for stem cell transplantation that includes MDS and myelofibrosis with myeloid metaplasia.

CMS is seeking public comment on this topic and says it is particularly interested in any additional recent clinical studies and other scientific information related to the outcomes of this treatment. “If the evidence is determined to be inadequate for coverage, we are especially interested in what types of studies are needed,” CMS states in the tracking sheet.

Public comment may be submitted until Dec. 10. The proposed decision memo is due out May 10, 2010 and the NCA is expected to be completed by Aug. 8, 2010.

The Associated Press reports that for three years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) repeatedly ignored internal watchdog warnings about swindlers stealing millions of dollars by scamming several programs, documents show. CMS received roughly 30 warnings from inspectors over three years during the Bush and Obama administrations but didn’t respond to half of them, even after repeated letters, according to records provided to The Associated Press by U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley’s office.

Read more »

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) facilities concerned about a proposed ESRD prospective payment system (PPS) that would replace the current payment system and methodologies still have time to stand up and be heard. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the comment period out by 30 days.

Read more »

Recovery Audit Contractors (RAC) HealthDataInsights (HDI) and CGI Federal have added to their list of new issues eligible for review as per the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

The RAC program, mandated by the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, is being implemented in 2010 to detect and correct past improper Medicare payments.

Tip: Don’t wait until Jan. 1, 2010 to review these new issues and correct any problems your outpatient hospital or physician practice may uncover. Read more »

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began accepting bids for the Round One Rebid of the Medicare Competitive Bidding Program for durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) on Oct. 21. Qualified DME suppliers in nine areas have until Dec. 21 to submit bids.

Registration to participate in the Round One Rebid is nearing an end. Suppliers that wish to submit bids must be registered by Nov. 4, 9 p.m. EST.

Read more »

The annual update to the clotting factor furnishing fee is $0.170 per I.U. and is effective from Jan. 1, 2010 to Dec. 31, 2010. This fee is included in the published payment limit for HCPCS Level II clotting factor billing codes (J7189-J7195) and added to the payment for a clotting factor when no payment limit is published either on the Average Sales Price (ASP) Medicare Part B Drug Pricing File or the Not Otherwise Classified (NOC) Pricing File.

Read more »

Hospitals who successfully participated in quality data reporting for outpatient services will receive a 2.1 percent inflation update in their 2010 payment rates for services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries in outpatient departments, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) will receive a 1.2 percent inflation update beginning Jan. 1, 2010 using the same payment methodology as in 2009.

These and other payment and policy changes can be found in the 2010 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and ASC final rule with comment period — put on display for review Oct. 30.

Read more »

The 2010 payment limits for splints and casts will be based on 2009 payment limits. Due to a -1.41 percent change in the consumer price index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) for the 12-month period ending June 2009, the inflation indexed charge (IIC) update factor for 2010 is 0 percent. Read more »