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Written by MBI
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Tuesday, 03 August 2010 20:12 |
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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will begin to make meaningful use incentive payments to eligible physicians and hospitals as early as May 2011, according to a senior CMS official, who detailed steps the agency is taking to start up the incentive program.
To begin receiving payments, healthcare providers must verify that they have demonstrated for 90 days meaningful use of certified electronic health records. To fit in 90 days of meaningful use means, “that no one will be able to attest before April,” she said. “The first payments will go out in the middle of May,” she said at a July 28 meeting of the federal advisory Health IT Standards Committee.
Now that CMS has released its final rule on meaningful use, the agency is readying systems and processes that will trigger the payments. “We’re now engineering back into the system all the changes that occurred in the final rule,” she said. The agency will roll out a registration service in January so physicians and hospitals can sign up for the program. CMS must also test that its systems can handle the interactions transmitted through registration, attestation and payment.
Eligible hospitals and Medicare physicians must have a national provider identifier and be enrolled in the CMS Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) if they aren’t already to participate in the EHR incentive program. Most providers also need to have an active user account in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES). |
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Written by MBI
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Friday, 25 June 2010 16:07 |
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As you know, the House approved legislation last night rescinding the 21.3% SGR cut and replacing it with a 2.2% increase. This increase is retroactive to claims for services provided on or after June 1, 2010 and will be in place for services provided through November 30, 2010.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has directed Medicare claims contractors to discontinue processing claims at the negative update rates and to temporarily hold all June 1 or later claims for services until the new 2.2 percent update rates are tested and loaded into the Medicare contractors' claims processing systems. According to a statement from CMS, "We expect to begin processing claims at the new rates no later than July 1, 2010." Claims for services rendered prior to June 1, 2010, will not reflect the 2.2% increase but will continue to be processed.
CMS has also announced that claims containing June 2010 dates of service which have already been paid at the negative update rates will be reprocessed as soon as possible. Under current law, Medicare payments to physicians and other providers paid under the MPFS are based upon the lesser of the submitted charge on the claim or the MPFS amount.
Please take note that claims containing June dates of service that were submitted with charges greater than or equal to the new 2.2 percent update rates will be automatically reprocessed. Providers who submitted claims containing June dates of service with charges less than the 2.2 percent update amount will need to contact their local Medicare contractor to request an adjustment. According to CMS, "Providers should not resubmit claims already submitted to their Medicare contractor."
While we appreciate the steps Congress has taken to address the SGR problem, this is still only a temporary solution and the Congress must enact a permanent fix to the SGR. Because this fix is only for 6 months, providers will be facing a reinstatement of the 21.3% cut on December 1, 2010. Then, a SGR second cut, estimated at 25%, will occur on January 1 unless Congress takes steps to prevent these cuts from occurring.
Please continue to visit www.medicalbilligninc.com for further updates as this situation progresses. |
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Written by MBI
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Friday, 25 June 2010 16:03 |
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The House has just passed legislation, H.R. 3962, which would "fix" the SGR problem for the next 6 months. Retroactive to services delivered on or after June 1, the Medicare Conversion Factor will be raised by 2.2%. This will be in place for services provided between June 1, 2010 and November 30, 2010. This is now being sent to the President for his signature.
Unless Congress takes steps between now and November 30, the 2.2% increase will cease on December 1, 2010 and the 21.3% reduction will be restored. |
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Written by MBI
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Tuesday, 22 June 2010 15:14 |
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The Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program Website is now available on CMS.gov!
The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services (CMS) has launched the official website for the Medicare & Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. This website provides the most up-to-date, detailed information about the EHR incentive programs.
The Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs will provide incentive payments to eligible professionals and hospitals as they adopt, implement, upgrade, or demonstrate meaningful use of certified EHR technology.
Bookmark this site and visit http://www.cms.gov/EHRIncentivePrograms/ often to learn about who is eligible for the programs, how to register, meaningful use, upcoming EHR training and events, and much more! |
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Written by MBI
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Friday, 18 June 2010 22:45 |
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The Senate, via unanimous consent, has passed a 6 month SGR "fix". The legislation was broken out from the larger tax extenders/unemployment legislation to which it had been attached.
Here is a summary of the proposal passed by the Senate:
Medicare Physician Payment: Provides a 2.2% increase in reimbursement levels for June-November of 2010. Spends $6.4 billion over five and ten years.
Hospital Payments: Prohibits Medicare from reopening or adjusting claims made by hospitals during the three days preceding a patient's inpatient admission.
Pension Relief: Offers the same relief from pension funding obligations for companies that will result in fewer tax-preferred contributions to pension plans and therefore more taxable income for the firms, and generates $675 million in outlay savings due to lower than expected payments by the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation (PBGC). Saves $2.8 billion over ten years.
IRS Data Match: Includes provisions allowing the IRS and CMS to coordinate data matching efforts with regard to delinquent tax debts owed by Medicare providers, and to take such information into account when releasing reimbursement payments and accepting new providers. Saves $175 million over five years and $425 million over ten.
The legislation has been sent to the House for consideration but the House has adjourned for the day. The soonest the House will be able to take up this proposal - assuming they can get the votes - would be Monday or Tuesday.
Stay tuned to www.medicalbillinginc.com for further updates.
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