CMS wants to identify bad actors -– even if they are or have been affiliated with a legitimate provider. On Sept. 5, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new final rule. There was not really a proposed rule to which comments and suggestions could be made; there were Federal Register entries […]
Hospitals assuming downside financial risk under value-based care models is the key to lowering healthcare costs and improving quality, CMS believes. CMS Administrator Seema Verma urged hospitals on Tuesday to accept new value-based care models and price transparency requirements or face greater administrative burden, less competition, and lower reimbursement rates under Medicare for All. “Our choices are […]
Now that revolutionary cancer therapy, Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell), is covered, let’s take a look coding CAR T. Last month the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the long-sought rules for coverage of CAR-T, novel cutting-edge, often curative treatments that utilize the patients’ own genetically modified immune cells to fight cancer. The […]
CMS has provided ICD-10-PCS updates for fiscal year 2020 that include 2,056 deletions. Here are 20 of the deleted codes: 0370046 – Dilation of right internal mammary artery, bifurcation, with drug-eluting intraluminal device, open approach 0372046 – Dilation of innominate artery, bifurcation, with drug-eluting intraluminal device, open approach 0374056 – Dilation of left subclavian artery, bifurcation, with […]
Providers are encouraged to file protective appeals. “In section XI of the preamble of the proposed rule, we discussed the growing number of Provider Reimbursement Review Board (PRRB) appeals made by providers and the action initiatives that are being implemented with the goal to decrease the number of appeals submitted; decrease the number of appeals […]
An overview of the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule: The proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) rule for 2020 was officially released on Aug. 14, 2019, encompassing various elements. Among these are proposals such as adjusting the PFS conversion factor to $36.09, introducing new HCPCS codes for bundled episode-of-care treatment for opioid use disorders, revising […]
Final rules will impact nearly every type of healthcare provider. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) presented us with quite a number of Medicare payment rules in the last week or so, referencing almost every type of provider in the program. The final rules included the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 Medicare Hospital Inpatient […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) and the Quality Payment Program as part of its effort to reduce provider burden. “Clinicians are drowning in paperwork and reporting requirements caused by cumbersome government rules and regulations,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma in a press […]
The agency dropped proposals for three key payment programs aimed at cutting administrative burden and boosting price transparency. CMS has released three new proposed payment programs that aim to reduce administrative burden, put patients over paperwork, and increase price transparency for patients, the agency said in a statement emailed to journalists. Specifically, CMS has proposed […]
President Trump issues an executive order on kidney disease and a new payment model for radiation therapy. As reported by Dr. Ronald Hirsch on the RACmonitor.com Monitor Mondays webcast, last week the president issued an executive order on kidney disease. The executive order was touted by many in the medical community because all are aware […]