Tag: Medicare Payments

Medicare Conversion Factor

Medicare Conversion Factor Increases, But Payments Remain Lower

Medicare Conversion factor are up but payouts are still down compared to last year. Healthcare professionals will see a slight upward adjustment to their Medicare payments starting March 9 after President Biden signs the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), 2024.  Really fortunately, although the 2024 CAA increases the conversion factor (CF) finalized for calendar year (CY) […]
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wide range of Health care bill would impact physicians

Health care bill with a wide range of provisions would impact physicians

The Senate Finance Committee proposed that the full chamber should review a legislation that could instigate alterations in physician practices. This proposition was discussed during a 90-minute meeting on November 8, 2023, regarding the bill named “The Better Mental Health Care, Lower-Cost Drugs, and Extenders Act.” This bill encompasses diverse aspects of healthcare, including mental […]
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Adjusting-Payments-to-Doctors-to-Improve-Health-Care-Access

Adjusting Payments to Doctors to Improve Health Care Access

The U.S. health care system will benefit from some provisions in the federal spending plan approved in Congress and signed by President Joe Biden late last year. But more work is needed to improve Medicare’s system for reimbursing physicians. A coalition representing almost 600,000 physicians and medical students urged the 118th Congress “to address outdated […]
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Guide-to-Coding-and-Documentation-Best-Practices

Guide to Coding and Documentation Best Practices

The difference between a financially and clinically successful practice and one that is struggling often comes down to whether they have the code right and document thoroughly. Changes in 2021 to major coding categories, such as evaluation and management (E/M) coding for office visits means major change that can hamper your operations if not done […]
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Policy-Changes-for-Medicare-Payments-Under-the-PFS

Policy Changes for Medicare Payments Under the PFS

On November 2, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued CY 2023 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule (Final Rule), implementing certain updates and policy changes for Medicare payments under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) and changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), effective on or after January 1, 2023. The final […]
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Payers-Wrongly-Cutting-Payments-To-Physicians-For-EM-Services

Payers Wrongly Cutting Payments To Physicians For E/M Services

Payers have been wrongly cutting payments to physicians for evaluation-and-management (E/M) services—often automatically through the use of claim-editing algorithms. A new AMA resource helps physicians fight back against health insurer downcoding. Downcoding happens when a payer changes a claim to a lower-cost service than what was submitted by the physician, leading the practice to get […]
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CMS IPPS Rule

IPPS Final Rules update for Medicare payments for 2023

CMS has published the Fiscal Year 2023 (Oct 1, 2022) final rules for Medicare payments. The major rule is, of course, the inpatient hospital prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) PPS rule. The final rule, as reported by Stanley Nachimson, contains several payment and quality program changes that go into effect Oct […]
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use-0074a-for-covid-19-pediatric-booster

Use 0074A for COVID-19 Pediatric Booster

Limit this code to administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. On May 17, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to authorize the use of a booster dose for patients 5 through 11 years of age. The CPT® code to report administration of this […]
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CMS Issues IPPS and LTCH Proposed Rule for FY 2023

CMS issued its annual Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule for FY 2023 (the Proposed Rule). In the Proposed Rule, CMS proposes to update the IPPS and LTCH payment rates, modify the payment rules for direct graduate medical education (DGME) to comply with a recent […]
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