Tag: Medicare Services

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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3.36% Cut Threatens Medicare Physician Care Access in 2024

3.36% Cut in The Proposed 2024 Medicare Physician Pay Schedule

What’s the news: The AMA is emphatically stating that the proposed 3.36% reduction in the 2024 Medicare physician payment schedule is ill-advised, posing a threat to the accessibility of high-quality physician care for the 50 million plus elderly individuals enrolled in Medicare. The AMA President emphasized that with escalating costs associated with medical practice; another […]
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Medicare, Beneficiaries Saw Higher Prices at Provider-Based Facilities

The Medicare program and Medicare beneficiaries could have saved a combined $1.6 billion if provider-based facilities charged the same payment rate as freestanding facilities, OIG found. Medicare and its beneficiaries paid significantly higher prices at provider-based facilities than they would have paid to freestanding facilities for the same services, according to a report from the […]
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California lawmakers introduce bill to mandate vaccinations in workplaces

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 […]
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9 New Introduction Codes Added to ICD-10-PCS

Effective April 1, 2022, hospitals will have nine new procedure codes to describe the introduction or infusion of therapeutics, including the additional COVID-19 vaccines recently authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration. April Update The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services first introduced seven new ICD-10-PCS codes for the second quarter of […]
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2022 Claims Reimbursement Updates in Emergency Medicine

Emergency medicine is facing a host of claims reimbursement updates this year, from looming Medicare payment cuts to new rules about the split and critical care visits. Emergency department providers are still reeling from the effects of the ongoing pandemic. But other important updates are also happening in the background—and they are likely to impact […]
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surprised-providers-seek-changes

Surprised Providers Seek Changes to Latest Provisions of the No Surprises Act

Effective January 1, 2022, new billing protections went into effect that have the goal of providing greater protections for patients against surprise medical bills. The Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management (collectively, the Departments) implemented these additional protections that are part of the No Surprises Act […]
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CMS Proposes Changes to Medicare Advantage and Part D Programs

On January 12, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Contract Year 2023 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs proposed rule, representing CMS’ first major policy proposals for these programs in the Biden Administration. The changes proposed are, overall, modest in scope. In the […]
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