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CMS will no longer recognize the code Q2024 (Bevacizumab, or Avastin) for payment of nonoutpatient hospital claims, the agency announced.  The code will be deleted from Medicare's Average Sales Price (ASP) file starting Jan. 1. CMS wants you to return to previous reporting practices for "small intraocular doses" of the cancer fighting drug.

The AMA is again pushing for federal lawmakers to pass a bill that eliminates the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula from calculating Medicare payments for physicians. A vote on the "doc fix" bill HR 3691 might happen in the House this week, according to published reports.

The latest RAC target signals a need to check claims for global procedures.

A report by CMS's Office of the Actuary details more than $500 billion in savings/cuts found in the House health reform bill, which passed the House on Nov. 7. The Washington Post summarizes the actuary's findings in an article with the headline "Report: Bill would reduce senior care" and subhead "Medicare cuts approved by House may affect access to providers."

Your peers earned an average bonus of $1,000 per provider for participation in the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) in 2008, CMS announced. PQRI bonuses, equaling 1.5% of an individual provider's Medicare charges, have been arriving at physician practices and bank accounts over the last couple weeks. More than 153,600 providers participated in PQRI, CMS says, but 55.3% of those reporting successfully earned a bonus -- which is better than the previous reporting year.

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