Medicare intends next year to allow physician assistants (PAs) to begin directly billing for their work and to expand coverage of telehealth services. It also intends to change the approach…
CMS has proposed a new rule that would update the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and seek more health equity and telehealth utilization among physicians. The proposed rule would establish a…
Hospitals are advised to offer choice to patients in terms of nursing homes, home care agencies, long-term acute-care hospitals, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. It has now been over 18 months…
On April 27, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule for the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS). The…
CMS has raised the Medicare payment rate for certain COVID-19 antibody infusions and included a new payment policy for at-home administration, which will have a higher payment rate compared to…
Proposed rules offer insight into the Administration’s priorities. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its first proposed payment rules under the Biden Administration. While these rules…
CMS has codified how it defines “reasonable and necessary” coverage for items and services that may be covered under Medicare Parts A and B in a new final rule. The…
Is this “new normal” a false reality? As we are now well into October, many months into COVID-19, I think we all have to look at what all the associated…
Provider groups are concerned that some proposals in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule for 2021 would exacerbate the financial challenges physicians are already facing during the COVID-19 pandemic, including…
Claims eligible for the 20 percent add-on payment for COVID-19 hospitalizations will now have to have a positive laboratory test documented in the patient’s medical record, according to recent Medicare…
Medicare outpatient payments are slated to increase by 2.6 percent next year, a $7.5 billion boost compared to 2020, according the proposed 2021 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule. Released…
Minorities have been found to be disproportionately affected by adverse outcomes. Federal officials say their first monthly statistical update illustrating the impact of the COVID-19 virus on the Medicare population…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has provided some guidance within the “Medicare and Medicaid Programs Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency”…
Health disparities proven by Medicare claims data during the COVID-19 crisis underscore the need to transition to value-based reimbursement, according to CMS. Yesterday, the federal agency announced COVID-19 outcomes based…
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is reevaluating the amounts that will be paid under its Accelerated Payment Program and suspending its Advance Payment…
CMS’s IMM sends mixed messages to providers. The Important Message from Medicare (IMM) has changed significantly in its latest reiteration, and the IMM now must be presented to both Medicare…