The Fix Is In… for 2012

The House and Senate have both voted to approve, and the President has signed into law, legislation preventing the scheduled 27.4% SGR related cut from taking effect on March 1.   While many issues are in fact addressed in this legislation – ranging from outpatient therapy caps to ambulance add-on payments; from the governments provision of bad debt payments to insitutions to the payment of the technical component of certain pathology services, etc…, by far the most anticipated and relevant item impacted by the legislation is the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rates:

Physician Payment Rates – This provision prevents a 27.4 percent cut in Medicare physician payment rates slated to begin on March 1, 2012, and instead freezes payment rates at their current level though December 31, 2012.  This provision also requires the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and HHS to submit reports to assist Congress in the development of a long-term replacement to the current Medicare physician payment system.

Physicians can breathe a sigh of relief, as physician payments are safe for the remainder of 2012…  but a permanent fix is an ever increasing necessity, for now, physician practices will face a mounting 35% payment threat from Medicare in 2013, absent additional furture Congressional intervention.

It’s Official – ICD-10 Has Been Delayed

It’s no longer a mere possibility; HHS has confirmed its intent to delay the ICD-10 compliance deadline, as announced in HHS’s February 16th press release:

As part of President Obama’s commitment to reducing regulatory burden, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen G. Sebelius today announced that HHS will initiate a process to postpone the date by which certain health care entities have to comply with International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition diagnosis and procedure codes (ICD-10):   “We have heard from many in the provider community who have concerns about the administrative burdens they face in the years ahead,” Secretary Sebelius said in the press release. “We are committing to work with the provider community to reexamine the pace at which HHS and the nation implement these important improvements to our healthcare system.”

The American Medical Association (AMA) supports the delay. “The timing of the ICD-10 transition could not be worse for physicians as they are spending significant financial and administrative resources implementing electronic health records in their practices and trying to comply with multiple quality and health information technology programs that include penalties for noncompliance,” Peter W. Carmel, M.D., president of the AMA, said in a February 16 press release.

Though the new deadline remains unclear, CMS previously confirmed CMS Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner’s statement that the agency will use the rulemaking process when revisiting the ICD-10 implementation timeline. The rulemaking process can be lengthy, so it may well be awhile before a firm date is established.

adapted from http://blogs.hcpro.com/medicarefind/2012/02/hhs-confirms-icd-10-delay-what-does-it-mean-for-you/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+medicarementor+%28MedicareMentor%29, and HHS Press Release (http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2012pres/02/20120216a.html)

Happy Valentine’s Day – CMS’ Present To Providers: Potential Delay in ICD-10 Timeline

The acting head of the CMS on Tuesday signaled that the agency will extend the timeline on ICD-10 implementation.

 

Over the past few months, the American Medical Association has been actively working toward delaying the implementation of ICD-10.  In mid-January, a letter from AMA Executive Vice President and CEO James L. Madara, M.D. to House Speaker John Boehner (R, Ohio) stated that, “[r]equiring doctors to use ICD-10 would offer no direct benefit to patient care.”  That letter further stated that “requiring all physician practices to use new diagnosis codes starting Oct. 1, 2013, also would interfere with concurrent efforts by doctors to implement electronic medical records and satisfy other Medicare quality improvement requirements.”

 

After recently speaking to attendees at the American Medical Association Advocacy Conference in Washington, acting CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner told reporters that the CMS will “re-examine the timeframe” through a rulemaking process. She did not say when that rulemaking process will begin but said the CMS would send details about the process in the coming days. “There’s concern that folks cannot get their work done around meaningful use, their work around ICD-10 implementation and be ready for exchanges,” Tavenner said. “So we’re trying to listen to that and be responsive.” Separately, Tavenner said she the CMS has had “good results” with accountable care organization applications and expects to make an announcement about selected applicants “at the beginning of the second quarter of this year.”

 

For more information on ICD-10, please see The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’s webpage, at https://www.cms.gov/ICD10/01_Overview.asp#TopOfPage.

 

Adapted from http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20120214/NEWS/302149976#ixzz1mNo9fvTV ?trk=tynt