Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
LOCAL COVERAGE POLICIES UNDER ATTACK
Confused by your Medicare contractor's local coverage policies? If the General Accounting Office gets its way, local policies will be abolished altogether and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services would make all coverage decisions on a centralized, national basis. In "Medicare: Divided Authority for Policies on Coverage of Procedures and Devices Results in Inequities" (GAO-03-175), the watchdog agency argues that variations in local coverage essentially lead to unfair geographical biases. It's not clear, however, that the GAO's proposal is likely to get very far. CMS firmly opposes the idea of eliminating local policies, maintaining, among other things, that local policies are faster to implement and allow Medicare to experiment with new coverage options. To see the report, go to www.gao.gov/new.items/d03175.pdf.
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
- Medicare:
BUSHIES SOFTENING ON MEDICARE REFORM?
So far, House and Senate bills being drafted to add a prescription drug benefit are [...] - Rehab:
WILL CONGRESS WALLOP REHAB CAPS A KNOCKOUT PUNCH?
The answer could mean the world to many facilities With the July 1 implementation date [...] - ESRD:
CMS LAUNCHES ESRD DEMO
A new four-year Medicare demonstration program offers end-stage renal disease providers two reimbursement options designed [...] - HIPAA:
HIPAA STANDARD DATEBOOK
Your Heads-Up On Upcoming HIPAA Requirements Mark your calendars: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid [...] - Hospitals:
Pay-For-Quality Hospital Demo In Works
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services hopes to soon announce a demonstration that would [...] - Trends:
HIGHER COSTS, MORE COST SHARING IN HSC FORECAST
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HHS PLANS NEW RULES ON SELF-REFERRAL, KICKBACKS AND EMTALA
Physicians' business relationships with other health care providers could be in for a shakeup this [...] - HIPAA:
PROVIDERS SEEK HIPAA TCS ASSURANCES
Are you ready for what the Oct. 16 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act transactions [...] - Ambulance:
AMBULANCE SUBSCRIPTION PLAN STEERS PAST KICKBACK PERILS
Ambulance companies that charge an annual subscription fee in lieu of collecting Medicare Part B [...] - DME:
DIALYSIS SUPPLIERS SHOULD BRACE FOR CMS-382 SCRUTINY
Suppliers of home dialysis equipment should do their best to make sure their Medicare clients' [...] - Coverage:
LOCAL COVERAGE POLICIES UNDER ATTACK
Confused by your Medicare contractor's local coverage policies? If the General Accounting Office gets its [...] - Fraud & Abuse:
SENTENCING APPEAL CAN'T SAVE SUPPLIER
The turning point in the campaign against health care fraud and abuse - the August [...] - PROGRAM MEMO ROUNDUP
Providers and contractors alike have been confused about certain elements of billing for diabetes outpatient [...] - BILL WATCH
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The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations will serve as a national accrediting organization [...]
