The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published a proposed rule that would add to the existing requirements providers and suppliers must meet to participate in Medicare and Medicaid. The new Condition of Participation (CoP) for providers or Condition for Coverage (CfC) for suppliers would require most providers and suppliers to give their Medicare patients the information they need to file a complaint if they are dissatisfied with the care they are receiving. Presently, only hospitals are required to provide this information to inpatients. (more…)
February 11th, 2011
Several technical and typographical errors have been identified in the 2011 Medicare Part B Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule since its July 13 release. Although the corrections the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) subsequently posted Aug. 22 in the Federal Register do not constitute rule-making, some of the changes are worth noting.
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September 10th, 2010
Twenty-one U.S. senators sent a letter dated Aug. 5 to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D., asking for the agency “to use its existing discretionary authority to make an important modification to the ASC payment system.”
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August 27th, 2010
A proposed rule that went on display in the Federal Register July 16 indicates home health agencies (HHAs) can expect a 4.75 percent decrease in 2011 Medicare payments. Compared to 2010 payments, this amounts to about a $900 million pay cut for HHAs across the nation.
HHAs that submit the required quality data would receive payments based on the home health market basket update of 1.4 percent for 2011. If an HHA does not submit quality data, the home health market basket percentage increase would be reduced by 2 percentage points to -0.6 percent for 2011.
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July 30th, 2010
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published July 13 the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule in the Federal Register. CMS will accept public comments regarding the proposed rule until Aug. 24. In case you don’t have time to read through all 1,250 pages, a brief AAPC News report published July 2 will catch you up on all the highlights.
For more information, you may want to read the American Medical Association’s (AMA) “cliff notes.” The AMA summary and analysis of the 2011 MPFS proposed rule touches on the issues that are most likely to affect physicians without going into too much detail.
For all the facts, you’ll have to put on your reading glasses and sit a spell as you pour over the entire 2011 MPFS proposed rule, which you can access on the CMS website.
July 16th, 2010