COLUMBIA, S.C. (October 6, 2015)—Providers have been anxious to see the final rates for the national pricing rollout scheduled to begin January 1, 2016. CMS posted the first of the preliminary files today, but still no final rates yet (October 6th).
CMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 30, 2015)—Congressman Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) continues to seek co-sponsors for H.R. 3229, legislation to protect access to complex rehab wheelchair accessories by preventing the application of prices derived from the Medicare competitive bidding program. Currently, the co-sponsor tally stands at 18.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 28, 2015)—Monday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announced a model to test strategies to improve medication use among Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Part D. Medication therapy management, when implemented effectively, can improve health care and outcomes for patients and has the potential to lower overall health care costs.
WATERLOO, IOWA (September 29, 2015)—U.S. Rehab and other industry stakeholders have mounted a campaign to get 100,000 signatures on a petition to reverse CMS’s plans to apply competitive bidding rates to complex rehab accessories.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 21, 2015)—Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Medicare Advantage premiums will remain stable and more enrollees will have access to higher quality plans while, for a sixth straight year, enrollment is projected to increase to a new all-time high.
On November 16, 2012 CMS issued a final rule titled “Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule, DME Face-to-Face Encounters, Elimination of the Requirement for Termination of Non-Random Prepayment Complex Medical Review and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2013”.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 8, 2015)—Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH), unveiled the first CMS plan to address health equity in Medicare. The CMS Equity Plan for Improving Quality in Medicare (CMS Equity Plan for Medicare) is an action-oriented plan that focuses on six priority areas and aims to reduce health disparities in four years.
WASHINGTON D.C., (August 27, 2015)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced a new funding opportunity designed to enhance the Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations among Nursing Facility Residents.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (August 27, 2015)—From July 20 through 24, 2015, Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) health care providers, clearinghouses, and billing agencies participated in a third successful ICD-10 end-to-end testing week with all Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and the Durable Medical Equipment (DME) MAC Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) contractor. CMS was able to accommodate most volunteers, representing a broad cross-section of provider, claim, and submitter types.