Legislation

Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule: Understanding 4 Key Topics Listening Session Registration is now open for: Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule: Understanding 4 Key Topics Listening Session Thursday, August 13 from 1:30 to 3 pm ET Register for Medicare Learning Network events. Proposed changes to the CY 2021 Physician Fee Schedule are aimed at reducing burden, recognizing clinicians for the time they spend taking care of patients, removing unnecessary measures, and making it easier for clinicians to be [...]

Trump Administration Proposes to Expand Telehealth Benefits Permanently for Medicare Beneficiaries Beyond the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and Advances Access to Care in Rural Areas Trump Administration Proposes Policies to Provide Seniors with More Choices and Lower Costs for Surgeries CMS Updates Medicare Payment Policies for IRFs Trump Administration Proposes to Expand Telehealth Benefits Permanently for Medicare Beneficiaries Beyond the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency and Advances Access to Care in Rural Areas CMS is proposing changes to expand [...]

News CMS Updates Data on COVID-19 Impacts on Medicare Beneficiaries Short-Term Acute Care Hospitals: Submit Occupational Mix Surveys by September 3 PEPPERs for SNFs, Hospices, IRFs, IPFs, CAHs, and LTCHs Hospice Quality Reporting Program: HART v1.6.0 Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program: Become a Medicare Enrolled Supplier Claims, Pricers & Codes COVID-19: Laboratory Claims Requiring the NPI of the Ordering/Referring Professional — Update Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program: Valid Claims Events National CMS/CDC Nursing Home COVID-19 Training Series Webcast — July [...]

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today released its first monthly update of data that provides a snapshot of the impact of COVID-19 on the Medicare population. For the first time, the snapshot includes data for American Indian/Alaskan Native Medicare beneficiaries. The new data indicate that American Indian/Alaskan Native beneficiaries have the second highest rate of hospitalization for COVID-19 among racial/ethnic groups after Blacks. Previously, the number of hospitalizations of American Indian/Alaskan Native beneficiaries was too low [...]

  Advocacy in Action Received a response from UnitedHealthcare regarding our concern over its new commercial medical policy imaging requirements.       The Bone Beat New Episode Conversations on health policy issues affecting musculoskeletal care.. Lifting Restrictions on Physician-Owned Hospitals Physician-owned hospitals provide some of the highest quality care, at the lowest cost. Yet since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, they have been prohibited from expanding or establishing new facilities to meet the growing demand for [...]

News Peripheral Vascular Intervention for Claudication: Comparative Billing Report Physician Compare Preview Period Open through August 20 Claims, Pricers & Codes SNF Patient Driven Payment Model Interrupted Stay Issue Events Telemedicine Hack: A 10-Week Learning Community to Accelerate Telemedicine Implementation for Ambulatory Providers: July 22–September 23 National CMS/CDC Nursing Home COVID-19 Training Series Webcast — July 23 MLN Matters® Articles Change to the Payment of Allogeneic Stem Cell Acquisition Services July 2020 Update of the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Urged congressional leaders, in coordination with more than 60 health care associations and specialty societies, to include the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2019 (S.348/H.R.1763) in the next comprehensive COVID-19 supplemental package. Commented on changes proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for the Fiscal Year 2021 Inpatient Prospective Payment System rule including price transparency initiatives, market-based payment methodology, and regulatory flexibility for graduate medical education. HHS Announces Additional $4B in Relief Payments for [...]

News Open Payments: Program Year 2019 Data LTCH Provider Preview Reports: Review Your Data by July 18 IRF Provider Preview Reports: Review Your Data by July 21 Reduce Provider Burden: Participate in Medical Documentation Interoperability Pilot COVID-19: Alternate Care Site Toolkit, Third Edition Claims, Pricers & Codes ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Codes: FY 2021 Teaching Physicians and Residents: Expansion of CPT Codes that May Be Billed with the GE Modifier Events Nursing Home Training Series Webcasts — July 9 and [...]

ESRD PPS CY 2021 Proposed Rule On July 6, CMS issued a proposed rule that proposes to update payment policies and rates under the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) for renal dialysis services furnished to beneficiaries on or after January 1, 2021. This rule also proposes updates to the Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) dialysis payment rate for renal dialysis services furnished by ESRD facilities to individuals with AKI and proposes changes to the ESRD Quality [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Expressed our support for the Creating Capacity for Communities in Need Act (S. 3547), which would allow physician-owned hospitals to expand capacity and access to address the COVID-19 emergency. Urged Congress to waive the budget neutrality requirements stipulated by the Social Security Act for the finalized evaluation and management code proposal slated for implementation on January 1, 2021.       The Bone Beat New Episode Conversations on health policy issues affecting musculoskeletal care... Reducing [...]