CMS released its annual Inpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule April 18, which proposes a reimbursement boost for acute care hospitals. Here are 10 things to know about the 1,786-page proposed rule: Payment rate update. Under the proposed rule, acute care hospitals that report quality data and are meaningful users of EHRs will see a […]
The act seeks to reduce surprise billing through independent dispute resolution and incentives for providers to join health plan networks. The No Surprises Act used a couple of methods to reduce surprise billing, though the need for some modifications may remain, according to a resource from AHIP. “The real problem of surprise medical bills tended […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) subsidizes healthcare in defined rural environments, paying encounter rates for provided services provided and the overhead required to provide them. However, it’s not free money. Rural health clinic (RHC) leaders must keep track of the services provided and submit yearly totals. They also must submit and process […]
Know the facts for ensuring proper payment of these claims in 2022. New policy for split/shared evaluation and management (E/M) visits (including critical care services and prolonged services) was finalized in the calendar year (CY) 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule. Knowing the new guidelines for billing split/shared visits performed in the facility […]
One-third of hospitals across the country offered telestroke services, but less than 40 percent submitted Medicare telestroke claims in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic. Following the Furthering Access to Stroke Telemedicine (FAST) Act, Medicare claims for telestroke services increased in rural and urban emergency departments. However, there was still substantial underbilling from hospitals with […]
It’s a well-known fact that the U.S. healthcare system is the most expensive in the world. What may not commonly be as understood is that between 15 to 25 percent of total health care expenditures in the U.S. are attributable to administrative costs, and most of those costs are related to billing activities. With many […]
During a National Stakeholder Call on January 18, 2022, Ellen Montz—Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)—announced that CMS had begun publishing state-specific letters (the “Enforcement Letters”) detailing anticipated Federal and state responsibilities with respect to enforcement of the […]
On Monday, February 7, 2022, U.S. Senators Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nevada, and Todd Young, R-Indiana, introduced the Telehealth Extension and Evaluation Act, which if passed, would extend several of the telehealth waivers for two years after the end of the federal public health emergency (PHE). See our previous coverage of telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic. […]
The bill comes in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision blocking President Biden’s nationwide vaccine mandate for large employers. A group of California lawmakers, led by District 15 Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, have introduced a bill proposing that all businesses in the state mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their employees. Assembly Bill 1993 would require […]
As more providers leverage telehealth services and EHR systems, the federal government has seen increased False Claims Act violations and healthcare fraud. Healthcare digitization, including increased use of telehealth and EHR has led to a higher volume of healthcare fraud and False Claims Act (FCA) cases, according to lawyers from Hogan Lovells. The False Claims […]