Posts Tagged ‘drugs’

AMA Posts Corrections to CPT® 2010

Monday, November 16th, 2009

By now the official CPT® 2010 manual is either in your hands or on its way. To ensure coding accuracy, however, you will need to update your book with some new information now posted on the AAPC Web site.

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TrailBlazer Revises Drugs & Biologicals LCDs

Monday, October 19th, 2009

Health care providers in Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas submitting claims to TrailBlazer Health Enterprises should be aware of revisions the jurisdiction 4 (J4) Part A and Part B Medicare Administrative Contractor (A/B MAC) made, Oct. 5, to two local coverage determinations (LCD).

The revisions were made in response to a recent addition to the list of HCPCS Level II codes payable by Medicare, as noted in the October 2009 quarterly update released Aug. 28 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Read more »

Pfizer Will Pay $2.3 Billion for Fraudulent Marketing

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Pfizer Inc. and its subsidiary Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc. have agreed to pay $2.3 billion to resolve criminal and civil liability arising from the illegal promotion of certain pharmaceutical products, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Sept. 2. Read more »

TrailBlazer Updates LCD for Chemo Drugs

Monday, June 29th, 2009

Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) TrailBlazer recently announced an inadvertent coding error. ICD-9-CM diagnosis code 238.79 Other lymphatic and hematopoietic tissues, used to indicate B-cell lymphoproliferative disorders expressing the CD-20 antigen as a covered diagnosis for J9310 Injection, rituximab, 100 mg, should be replaced with ICD-9-CM diagnosis code 238.77 Post-Transplant Lymphoproliferative Disorder (PTLD).

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July 2009 OPPS Update Changes Policies

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009

The July 2009 update of the hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) implements a number of changes to and billing instructions for various Medicare policies. The most affected areas of note are drugs and biologicals and Part B hospital outpatient services.

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Contraceptive Makers Get an Incentive to Lower Costs

Tuesday, March 24th, 2009

A provision in the 2009 federal budget bill (H.R. 1105), signed March 11 by President Barack Obama, could possibly undo what the Deficit Reduction Act of 2007 (DRA) did, which was to double or, in some cases, triple the price of oral contraceptives, AP/Google.com reports.

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ASP Amount for OPPS Changed

Friday, February 27th, 2009

Beginning Jan. 1, 2009, under the Outpatient Perspective Payment System (OPPS), payment allowance limits for specified covered outpatient drugs are paid at the average sales price (ASP) plus 4 percent.

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FDA Advises Against Risky Asthma Drugs

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

A Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee says long-acting beta-2 agonist (LABA) inhalers used alone are too risky for children younger than 18. The decision is still out on whether the benefits outweigh the risks for adults who use an LABA drug for daily treatment of asthma. Read more »


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