Year: 2021

Alignment Expands Medicare Advantage for Seniors in 3 States

Alignment Expands Medicare Advantage for Seniors in 3 States

The payer will debut its Medicare Advantage plans in select Arizona counties and expand coverage to additional counties in North Carolina and Nevada. Alignment Healthcare (Alignment) is extending its Medicare Advantage (MA) footprint in Arizona, North Carolina, and Nevada to provide coverage for more senior beneficiaries. Starting in 2022, Alignment will introduce its MA health […]
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Pros, Cons of Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Benefits

Pros, Cons of Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Benefits

MACPAC’s June 2021 report to Congress included findings about non-emergency medical transportation benefits in Medicaid programs that could prove useful for benefits design. A small fraction of the Medicaid population utilizes non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefits, but for that community of beneficiaries NEMT programs can be indispensable, a MACPAC report recently found. It has been […]
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Prolonged Services in CPT versus Medicare

Prolonged Services in CPT versus Medicare

The code 99417 is invalid for Medicare and MA reimbursement. When the CPT® Guidelines were updated for 2021, one of the options for leveling an office or other outpatient evaluation and management (E&M) service was to use time as the leveling agent. The time thresholds for each E&M office visit were also changed from “typical” […]
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New Provider Relief Fund Rules Give More Time to Use, Report Money

New Provider Relief Fund Rules Give More Time to Use, Report Money

HHS recently updated Provider Relief Fund reporting requirements, extending the period of availability of funds and reporting periods. The update to the Post-Payment Notice of Reporting Requirements states that clinicians now have a period of availability of funds based on the date they received the payment, rather than the original deadline of June 30, 2021. […]
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CMS Updates Medicare Part B Drug Prices

CMS Updates Medicare Part B Drug Prices

Retroactive code pricing updates may require claims lookback. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted a retroactive update to the April Average Sales Price (ASP) pricing file for three Medicare Part B drugs. Also now available are the July ASP and Not Otherwise Classified (NOC) pricing files and the ASP NDC HCPCS […]
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Emergency physicians call United healthcare’s ED denial Policy ‘Dangerous’

Emergency physicians call United healthcare’s ED denial Policy ‘Dangerous’

The American College of Emergency Physicians said that it “firmly believes that the new policy is in direct violation of the federal Prudent Layperson Standard.” Calling it a “dangerous decision” and a “scare tactic,” the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) is condemning UnitedHealthcare’s recent announcement to retroactively deny emergency care claims. “ACEP firmly believes […]
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