Medicare beneficiaries now have immediate access to innovative medical technology approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), rather than having to wait for it to clear additional bureaucratic hurdles before coverage is approved. The Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT) final rule issued this week eliminates the time and cost innovators were formerly […]
The 2021 OPPS final rule seeks to increase patient choice and lower out-of-pocket costs. On Dec. 2, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System final rule for calendar year (CY) 2021. The final rule aims to provide Medicare recipients […]
The 2021 Medicare physician payment schedule finalized an AMA-developed approach for less burdensome coding and documenting of office and outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) services. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also extended Medicare payment for many services delivered via telehealth at least until the end of calendar year 2021, but indicated that […]
CMS recently added 11 new services to the Medicare telehealth services list, qualifying the services for Medicare reimbursement through the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). The new telehealth services cover some cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation services, as well as certain neurostimulator analysis and programming services. The additions to the Medicare telehealth list were made in […]
The American Medical Association (AMA) says the proposed Medicare 2021 fee schedule should be modified to reflect changes brought on by the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. In detailed comments submitted to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma, the AMA warned that some proposed regulations in the fee schedule would hurt many practices already […]
Further, the study underscored that inpatient rehab plays a unique and positive role in treating patients recovering from COVID-19. Discover key strategies hospitals can use to improve outcomes through rehabilitation for patients recovering from COVID-19. Importance of Rehab for Patients Recovering from COVID-19 At least 700,000 Americans recovering from COVID-19 will require inpatient rehabilitative […]
Deemed the epicenter of COVID-19 deaths by many, skilled nursing facilities and other nursing home providers are now on the verge of collapsing without financial help, industry leaders say. Skilled nursing facilities are on the verge of collapsing due to historic underfunding and the financial repercussion of the COVID-19 crisis, according to a new report from the […]
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 […]
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 […]
The Medicare Advantage (MA) program, which allows Medicare beneficiaries to voluntarily enroll in a private plan that administers health benefits, was established by the Balanced Budget Act (BBA) of 1997 as a vehicle to bring private-sector competition and innovation to Medicare beneficiaries. When the program was announced, the goal was to create greater competition on […]