Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
SMALL TOWN HOSPITALS TO RECEIVE BIG-CITY WAGES
Special appeals for wage index classification are now under way. The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services has announced a one-time only appeals process for reclassification to geographic areas with a higher Medicare payment index - good news for some rural hospitals that just fall short under the previous criteria. "Hospitals should be given the opportunity to hire the best nurses and other staff without having to worry about them moving to another hospital just over the county line that is able to pay higher wages," says Dennis Smith, acting CMS administrator. The Medicare reform bill enacted in December set aside $900 million in payments to qualifying hospitals, so rural hospitals should act now to make sure Medicare pays them fairly for labor costs - appeals must be filed by February 15, 2004, according to a Jan. 6 Federal Register notice. To see the rule, go to: www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a040106c.html.
Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
- Regulations:
DOZENS OF REGULATORY CHANGES IN THE PIPELINE
What's coming down the pike from CMS and the OIG.
Medicare's regulatory framework is a [...] - Physicians:
CMS RINGS IN THE NEW YEAR WITH PHYSICIAN PAY HIKE
Starting January 1, physicians can see it to believe it.
Good news for physicians - [...] - Home Care:
NEW HOME CARE PPS RATES MAY CHANGE MORE THAN EXPECTED
HHAs prepare for inflation update revamp.
The market basket index for home health agencies is [...] - Health Savings Accounts:
IRS ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR NEW TAX-FAVORED ACCOUNTS
The Internal Revenue Service in new guidelines outlines the broadly favorable tax treatment and other [...] - Medicare Rx:
REALITY: MEDICARE MAY NEED TO SET SOME Rx PRICES
Health economist Joseph Newhouse predicts that the Medicare prescription-drug law's "non-interference clause," which prohibits the [...] - Medicare+Choice:
SENIORS IN FOR-PROFIT PLANS NOT DENIED HIGH-COST CARE
At least in the Medicare program, for-profit managed care plans provide as much access to [...] - Hospice:
COPs, Amendments On Hospice Horizon
Hospices have their fair share of regulatory action planned this year. According to the Centers [...] - Pharmaceuticals:
CMS TACKLES AWP
In one of its first steps towards turning the sprawling Medicare legislation signed by President [...] - People:
SMITH BECOMES ACTING CMS CHIEF
Former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Tom Scully has joined the law firm [...] - Medicare+Choice:
M+C 2004 ACRP TIMELINE
To be ready for the changes in March, M+COs need to act now.
The Medicare [...] - Pharmaceuticals:
CMS BEEFS UP DRUGMAKER RECORDKEEPING RULE
Time limitation bumped up to 10 years.
Drug makers will need to hold onto pricing [...] - Pharmaceuticals:
MEDICAID Rx SCRUTINY placed on DOCS, PHARMACISTS, PATIENTS
Watch for yet more investigation of suspected prescription drug fraud .
Big players in the [...] - Hospitals:
MORE LIFE SUPPORT FOR RURAL HOSPITALS
New rule secures cash flow to rural hospitals, changes payments on certain drugs.
More than [...] - Hospitals:
SMALL TOWN HOSPITALS TO RECEIVE BIG-CITY WAGES
Special appeals for wage index classification are now under way. The Centers for Medicaid & [...] - Self-Referral:
ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR - feds DELAY SELF REFERRAL RULE, AGAIN
Effective date for controversial Stark provision now July 7, 2004.
In keeping with its three [...] - CMS MANUAL UPDATE
Physicians will be able to bill Medicare for HCPCS code J0880 starting Jan. 1, 2003, [...]
