All health care providers covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) must begin using the standard unique identifiers for healthcare providers and health plans mandated by HIPAA no later than May 23, 2007. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services release on November 17, 2006, “every covered health care
November 2006
OIG Issues Another Physician Gainsharing Advisory Opinion
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Medicare & Reimbursement
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued Advisory Opinion 06-22, which is another in a series of similar approving gainsharing arrangements, i.e., 01-01 and 05-01 through 05-06. Under the current proposed arrangement, a hospital would pay a cardiac surgery group 50 percent of the hospital’s first year cost savings directly attributable to specific changes in the…
CMS Proposes New Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) Fee Schedule
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Medicare & Reimbursement
In accordance with § 626 of the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003, which commissioned a study by the GAO to evaluate a payment system using groups of covered services under the outpatient prospective payment system, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a new reimbursement system for Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC) on August 23…
Link: 2007 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Medicare & Reimbursement
2007 Physician Fee Schedule
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Medicare & Reimbursement
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final rule for the 2007 Physician Schedule on November 1, 2006, which will soon be published in the Federal Register.
§ The final rule provides a 5% reduction in the 2007 Fee Schedule, which is just a slight change from the proposed 5.1% reduction…
Pennsylvania Extends MCARE Abatements Through 2007
By Michael Cassidy on
Posted in Uncategorized
On October 27, 2006, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell signed Senate Bill 972, extending the MCARE malpractice subsidy through 2007. Physicians who are eligible for 100% abatement of their assessments are surgeons, neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, obstetricians, emergency physicians, rural doctors who routinely deliver babies, certified nurse-midwives, and nursing homes. All other physicians and podiatrists are eligible for an…