Medicare Advantage (MA) premiums will be 1% lower and patient enrollment is projected to increase by 5% in 2011, CMS announced Tuesday.

"Despite the claims of some, Medicare Advantage remains strong and a robust option for millions of seniors who choose to enroll or stay in a participating plan today and in the future," said CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, MD, in a statement. "The Affordable Care Act gave us new authority to negotiate with health plans in a competitive marketplace. As a result, our beneficiaries will save money and maintain their benefits."

Your Medicare patients will have access to most of the Medicare Advantage plans you currently accept. CMS says 99.7% of plans available today will be available in 2011. The health care reform law does allow patients to disenroll from a MA plan and return to the traditional fee-for-service program between Jan. 1 and March 15 of each year. 

From CMS - A little breathing room to implement ICD-10-CM.

CMS recently greenlit two groups -- the non-profit Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) and the for-profit Drummond Group Inc. -- to certify electronic health record (EHR) systems. Only certified systems have the features needed to meet meaningful use, and earn providers up to $44,000 apiece in federal incentive money. Both groups recently posted PDFs listing their fees and methodology for testing and certifying EHRs, and the figures are pretty steep (read more on EHR certification fees and testing) ...

CMS's Internet-based Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) will be offline for scheduled maintenance from Wednesday, Sept. 29 through Sunday, Oct. 3. 

By our count, this is the second time PECOS will be out for maintenance this year. But many Medicare providers reported PECOS was virtually paralyzed at times over the summer as the online enrollment site was overwhelmed with visitor traffic.  

While PECOS is out, CMS suggests you wait for it to go back online on Oct. 4 or complete the paper enrollment application. If you need assistance or have questions, CMS suggests you contact the Medicare fee-for-service contractor serving your state.

Physician practices can expect Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to step up quality of care efforts. The health care reform law incentivizes MA plans to boost quality ratings by 2012.

The Kaiser Family Foundation (pdf) wrote an issue brief about the new bonus program. MA plans will receive extra payments when they achieve four or more quality stars out of five. The plans are graded on effectiveness, a consumer assessment, a health outcomes survey and CMS administrative data. CMS data includes statistics on appeals, audit results and customer service.  

Current rankings show some states have MA plans with better scores than other states.

Read more on Medicare Advantage plans