Part B News

CMS chief gets warm reception at AMA conference

by: Grant Huang Feb 10, 2011

I listened to CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, MD, give a speech on the Medicare physician pay fix and the future of the payment model earlier this week at the AMA's annual advocacy conference in downtown Washington. Before a crowd of physicians, Dr. Berwick -- a former pediatrician -- said he was "committed" to a permanent sustainable growth rate (SGR) fix. While this earned the expected applause, Dr. Berwick spent much more time discussing a dramatic overhaul of the Medicare fee-for-service system, a major change that he painted as being inevitable.

OIG sets up top 10 most wanted list

by: Charles Fiegl Feb 4, 2011

They could be shopping in your local supermarket, frequenting your favorite restaurants or even living next door. The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) wants you to be on the lookout for "health care fugitives" who've allegedly ripped-off Medicare, Medicaid and other health care programs.

“Individuals who steal from Federal health care programs and then flee from the consequences of their crimes must be held accountable. We hope our new Web page will encourage the public to help us apprehend these fugitives,” said Gerald T. Roy, OIG deputy inspector general for investigations.

Bugged wellness visits may take until March to fix

by: Grant Huang Feb 2, 2011

If you received a denial on your annual wellness visits (AWVs) on your first round of remittance advices for 2011, it could take until mid or late March for affected carriers to pay you back. At least one carrier that experienced the issue -- which caused their systems to automatically deny many AWVs -- gave me the mid-late March date. That would be First Coast Service Options, with jurisdiction over Florida, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. First Coast officials also revealed that around 1,000 claims were impacted.

Judge says PPACA is unconstitutional

by: Charles Fiegl Feb 1, 2011

A federal judge in Florida on Monday ruled the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) is unconstitutional. This action, however, won’t eliminate sections of the bill already implemented by CMS. You can keep providing annual wellness visits and waiving copays and deductibles for certain preventive services covered by Medicare.

Debt may sink your quality incentive program bonus check

by: Charles Fiegl Jan 28, 2011

Have you found that your quality reporting bonus checks are lower than you expected?

CMS says your incentive payments from the Physician Quality Reporting System and Electronic Prescribing Incentive Program are subject to offsets. The agency explains that it may reduce quality program bonus payments for any outstanding debt linked to your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).

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