A recent Medicare policy decision could allow you to collect additional reimbursement for claims already filed. CMS transmittal AB-02-112 (change request 2282), outlining final revisions to the 2002 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Database, replaced the bilateral surgery indicator "0" (which signifies that no additional payment is appropriate for a bilateral procedure) with a "1" (indicating that a 150 percent payment adjustment applies for bilateral procedures) for the following: Previously, Medicare provided no additional reimbursement for the above, even if coders appended modifier -50 (Bilateral procedure) or modifiers -LT (Left side) and/or -RT (Right side) to indicate a bilateral procedure. You may now receive a 150 percent payment adjustment for such procedures if documentation supports the claim and you append the correct modifier(s). The fee schedule revisions are retroactive to Jan. 1, 2002, but Medicare has instructed carriers that they "need not search their files to either retract payment for claims already paid or to retroactively pay claims." Therefore, to receive adjusted compensation for previously paid claims, you must refile and specifically request additional payment. Based on national averages, this could mean the difference between $1,284 (61862 performed bilaterally but paid unilaterally) and $1,926 (61862 performed and paid as a bilateral procedure), for instance. Note: To view transmittal AB-02-122, visit the CMS Web site: www.cms.gov/manuals/pm_trans/ab02112.pdf.