Salaries are down for some specialties more than others, of course. And some even went up. Medscape's annual physician compensation report is usually happy news. But this year's report, compiled from a survey of 24,216 physicians, indicates that "physician income declined in general."

It appears providers will have no new diagnosis code changes to contend with next year.

CMS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are officially proposing no changes to the ICD-9-CM or ICD-10-CM code sets for 2013.

As GAO denounces their $8.35 billion Medicare Advantage demo, CMS announces that their frugality will save $208 billion by 2020. CMS' latest savings report details, to some extent, where the savings are coming from, based on the calculations of the CMS Office of the Actuary.

CMS has given its Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, also known as Part C, more liberties and a few mandates, including issuing ID cards to patients thanks to the April 12 final rule.

The rule solidified changes to the prescription drug Part D and MA programs effective in 2013 as required by health reform.

MA plans can now limit coverage of DME supplies to “preferred” brands and manufacturers as long as the plan ensures patients have access to all categories of DME products. CMS found that DME plans were already limiting products by brand on some level and decided to make it official.

CMS is giving you another glimpse into the continually evolving value-based payment modifier, an Affordable Care Act provision that will alter reimbursement based on the quality and cost of care you provide to patients.