CMS announced today the agency will delay the new ordering and referring PECOS rule until Jan. 3, 2011.  

Under the rule, Medicare providers will receive denials for services (such as a lab test or office visit) that stem from referrals or orders from providers not in CMS's Provider Enrollment Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) - even when the billing provider's enrollment information is in PECOS. The rule was to take effect April 5.

The 7-month, Medicare pay-fix section in the Senate jobs bill has been carved out -- leaving no clear path to removing the 21% payment cut set for March 1.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) cited concerns about the overall size of the bill for removing several provisions, including the pay-fix language, that amounted to $70 billion. So, it's looking more and more likely that the 21% cut will go through without further delay.

Senate Democrats are moving to create a seven-month, pay-fix patch that moves the 21% cut to Medicare reimbursements from March 1 to October 1, 2010. A draft version of the Senate's jobs bill obtained by Part B News contains the temporary "doc fix" and several other Medicare provisions, such as an extension of the Geographic Practice Cost Indices (GPCIs) work floor and therapy caps exception.

We're buried under snow from a weekend storm here in the Washington metro area. I know we're not going to invoke much sympathy from most parts of the country, but those living in states along the Mid-Atlantic can't go anywhere right now (those of us at Part B News are working from our respective homes today).

The federal budget for fiscal year 2011 (Oct. 1, 2010-Sept. 30, 2011) shows HHS will increase efforts to ferret out "health care fraud and reduce improper payments."