Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
ITS THAT TIME OF YEAR - feds DELAY SELF REFERRAL RULE, AGAIN
In keeping with its three year pattern, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has put a 6-month delay on the effective date of a provision in the Jan. 4, 2001 Stark rule, granting another welcome reprieve to teaching hospitals and medical centers. The controversy is over a single sentence in the Stark reg that deals with percentage compensation arrangements and the definition of "set in advance." Many of the exceptions to the Stark rule that apply to compensation arrangements can only be invoked if the amount of compensation is set in advance. According to a notice published in the Dec. 24 Federal Register, CMS is trying to decide whether its interpretation of "set in advance" automatically excludes percentage compensation deals from the Stark exceptions - a reading that could leave teaching hospitals, physician practices and medical foundations scrambling to rework thousands of contracts. This is the fourth time CMS has delayed the rule, which is now effective July 7, 2004. The agency reiterates that the "set in advance" issue will be definitively worked out in the Stark Phase II rule.
To see the notice delaying the rule, go to www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/fedreg/a031224c.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
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CMS TACKLES AWP
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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, [...]
