The Senate failed to act on The House bill to postpone the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) Medicare Physician Fee Schedule cut. Therefore the mandatory 21.5% Medcare cut will happen on March1. Legislators have promised renewed efforts but there is no immediate relief in sight.
However, CMS is suggesting anpther 10 day hold to provide time…
Section 135(a) of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) amended section 1834(e) of the Social Security Act and required the Secretary to designate organizations to accredit suppliers, including but not limited to physicians, non-physician practitioners and Independent Diagnostic Testing Facilities, that furnish the technical component (TC) of advanced diagnostic…
CMS APPROVES THREE NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO
ACCREDIT SUPPLIERS OF ADVANCED IMAGING SERVICES
MRI, CT AND PET SCANS AMONG SERVICES TO BE AFFECTED
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is designating three national accreditation organizations – the American College of Radiology (ACR), the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC), and The Joint Commission (TJC)…
On January 28, the Senate approved legislation that will increase the federal debt limit to $1.9 trillion. Included in this legislation was a provision to reinstate "pay-go" rules mandating that Congress must offset any future increased spending with corresponding spending reductions or revenue increases. This bill also provides Congress a 5 year exemption from these pay-go…
The Department of Health and Human Services has published proposed regulations for the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). The new regulations are intended to incorporate Section 1921 of the Social Security Act, which was enacted as part of the Medicare and Medicaid Patient and Program Protection Act of 1987 (MMPPA).
These proposed regulations were first…
The stalled healthcare reform initiative leaves the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule problem of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) imposed 21.5% reduction as a stand alone separate issue. The physician fee schedule decrease was postponed for 2 months by an Obama addition to a defense approriation bill, with the expectation that a long term solution would…
American Health Lawyers Assocaition has reported:
President Obama Signs into Law a Temporary Fix to Physicians’ Medicare Reimbursement
By Jeffrey Moore , Phelps Dunbar LLP
On December 19, 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Department
of Defense Appropriations Act, 2010 (H.R. 3326), into law, which freezes Medicare physician payments for two months, avoiding a…
To the extent possible and in consideration of possible legislative changes, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is working with Congress, health care providers, and the beneficiary community to avoid disruption in the delivery of health care services and payment of claims for physicians, non-physician practitioners, and other providers of services paid…
NYT reports that there are numerous hidden benefits in the healthcare reform bill designed to "attract" support from various Senators.
