Tagged with Medicare Billing
CMS Issues Additional Guidance on D-SNP Integration Requirements
On January 17, CMS issued a memorandum providing additional guidance clarifying Medicare-Medicaid integration requirements for Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs). The memorandum is intended to clarify distinctions between fully integrated D-SNPs (FIDE SNPs) and highly integrated (HIDE SNPs); permissibility of carve-outs of behavioral health services and long term services and supports (LTSS) for FIDE SNPs and HIDE SNPs; alignment of D-SNP and companion Medicaid plan service areas; and compliance with integration requirements for DSNPs that only enroll partial-benefit dually eligible individuals.
CMS Issues Advanced Alternative Payment Model Incentive Payment Advisory
CMS has released a payment advisory alerting certain clinicians who are Qualifying APM participants (QPs) and eligible to receive an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) Incentive Payment for 2019, that the agency does not have the current banking information needed to disburse the payment and provides information on how to update banking information to receive this payment.
CMS, HHS Proposes Changes to Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute Reforms
On October 9, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced proposed changes that seek to modernize and clarify the regulations that interpret the Physician Self-Referral Law (the Stark Law) and the Federal Anti-Kickback Statute. The proposed rule has been designed to provide greater certainty for healthcare providers participating in value-based arrangements and providing coordinated care for patients. The proposed changes are intended to ease the compliance burden for healthcare providers across the industry while maintaining strong safeguards to protect patients and programs from fraud and abuse.
ACR Seeks Urgent Action Opposing Cuts to Radiology
The American College of Radiology (ACR) is seeking help in its efforts to urge Congress to stop CMS from implementing proposed changes to the Evaluation and Management (E/M) Codes that could result in severe cuts to radiology.
Humana Releases Latest Claims Payment Policy Updates
Humana has published its latest medical claims payment policy updates, including its reimbursement policy for ambulance transportation, requirements for billing and documentation of observation services, as well as a new policy for obstetric billing, including antepartum, delivery and postpartum care.
Infographic – AdvantEdge Healthcare Solutions – Radiology
AdvantEdge Healthcare Solutions is one of the nation’s best radiology billing, coding, and revenue cycle management vendors for radiology practices across the country. To learn how AdvantEdge can be your billing and coding vendor, call us at 877-501-1611 or email us info@ahsrcm.com
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Proposes New Approach to End Surprise Medical Bills
In a letter to the House Ways and Means Committee, Chairman Richard Neal has proposed that the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), the U.S. Labor and Treasury Department, along with other interested parties, consolidate their efforts to develop standards for rates for surprise bills.
Executive Order Issued to Protect Traditional Medicare and MA Plans
The president, on October 3, signed an executive order directing the Department of Health and Human Services to increase efforts to provide more insurance plan options under Medicare Advantage and to remove regulations that are considered burdensome to health care providers. The order is intended to protect traditional Medicare and private Medicare Advantage while ramping up alternative payment models, time spent with patients, access to innovative technology and reducing the regulatory burdens on providers.
Data Mining Anesthesia Billing Data for Improved Practice Performance
By Joe Laden, Vice President of Client Management All billing companies and in-house billing operations provide a package of standard reports. They are generally financial reports designed to report cash flow and illustrate the performance of the billing entity However, data collected for billing can provide a wealth of information for the practice beyond the…
Federal Judge Overturns CMS Rule to Cut Medicare Payments to Outpatient Hospital Clinics
A U.S. District Judge has overturned a CMS rule that had reduced Medicare reimbursement rates for off-campus hospital clinic visits.
Improper Payment for Intensity-Modulated Radiation Therapy Planning Services
In a recent report, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) determined that payments for outpatient Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) did not comply with Medicare billing requirements. Specifically, hospitals billed separately for complex stimulations when they were performed as part of IMRT planning. Overpayments occurred because hospitals are unfamiliar with or misinterpreted CMS guidance.
CMS Targeted Probe and Educate Audit Program
By Jeanne A. Gilreath, CHBME, Senior Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer One of the many programs CMS has implemented to help providers identify billing issues is the Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) audit program. It is designed to identify providers with high denial rates or unusual billing practices according to CMS. If a provider is…
Aetna Wisconsin Issues New Preapproval Requirements for Members
Effective July 1, Aetna will require prior authorization for certain procedures under its Enhanced Clinical Review Program with eviCore healthcare.
UnitedHealthcare Issues Recent Commercial Reimbursement Policy Updates
Effective September 1, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) will add a new policy for molecular pathology and will make changes to its procedure to modifier policy.
Aetna Issues New Radiation Therapy Preapproval Requirements
Beginning July 1, Aetna will require authorization for its enhanced clinical review program with eviCore healthcare for certain outpatient radiation therapy services.
CMS Notice on Bypassing Payment Window Edits for Donor Post-Kidney Transplant Complication Services
CMS has posted a notice for physicians, hospitals, and other providers billing Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to ensure the payment window edits are bypassed when processing claims for donor post-kidney transplant complications services.
CAR T-Cell Cancer Therapy Available to Medicare Beneficiaries Nationwide
On August 7, CMS finalized the decision to cover Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell) therapy, which is a form of cancer treatment that uses a patient’s own genetically-modified immune cells to fight disease. FDA-approved CAR T-cell therapies are approved to treat some people with specific types of cancer – certain types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
CMS Expands Medicare Coverage of Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring
CMS announced, on July 2, that it finalized its national coverage policy for Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring (ABPM), extending coverage of blood pressure monitoring devices to all Medicare beneficiaries suspected of reporting abnormal blood pressure levels when administered in clinical settings.
CMS Issues FAQs on BPCI Advanced Model
CMS, on June 21, issued several new or updated frequently asked questions documents on the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Advanced Model, an Advanced Alternative Payment Model launched last October that will run through 2023.
Aetna Issues ASC and Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC) Code Edit Updates
Aetna has released updates regarding how the insurer will handle certain ambulatory surgical center (ASC) and ambulatory payment classification (APC) code edits under the ASC and APC payment methodologies.
