CMS Makes Major MACRA Implementation Announcement Andrew Slavitt, Acting Administrator of CMS, announced CMS heard concerns expressed by the AMA and other physician organizations about the proposed start date for performance reporting by physicians under the new payment systems created by the MACRA. CMS announced that the final MACRA regulation will exempt physicians from any risk of penalties if they choose one of three distinct MIPS reporting options in 2017, in addition to the option of participating in an advanced APM. September 9, 2016 AMA, MACRA, Medicare, Payment CMS, AMA, APM, MACRA, MIPS 0 0 Comment Read More »
Seamless Conversion to Medicare Advantage Some questions have been raised about recent press coverage on plans enrolling new Medicare beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage without the beneficiary’s knowledge. The American Medical Association (AMA) raised concerns and a number of questions with senior officials at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Included in this blog posting are CMS’ answers. August 23, 2016 AMA, Covered California, Managed Care, Medi Cal, Medicaid, Medicare AMA, CMS, Dual-Eligibles, Medicare, Medicare Advantage 0 0 Comment Read More »
Avoid Medicare PQRS and Value-Based Modifier Penalties; File by December 16 Problems with how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been collecting and analyzing data related to the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and the value-based payment modifier (VM) may lead to inappropriate penalties of 2-4% of Medicare payments for thousands of physicians. December 10, 2015 AMA, Medicare, Payment, Practice Management value-based payment modifier, physician quality reporting system, PQRS 0 0 Comment Read More »
Guide to ICD-10 Transition: Steps for August Physician practices have less than 75 days before the October 1 deadline to implement the ICD-10 code set. The AMA and CMS have put together a guide to ensure a seamless transition to ICD-10. July 29, 2015 AMA, Payment, Physician Resource CMS National Provider Call, ICD-10 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS Increases Physician Payment by 0.5% in Medicare Physician Fee Schedule CMS recently released the 2016 proposed Medicare physician payment rule. The rule reflects the 0.5% increase in payment as of July 1, 2015, and the additional 0.5% increase in payment on January 1, 2016, recently adopted by Congress. July 27, 2015 Advocacy, AMA, Medicare, News, Payment 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, Geographic Adjustment Factors, Medicare physician payment rule, MPFS 0 0 Comment Read More »