Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

Plus: New Anti-Fraud Law Could Delay Your Medicare Payments

Last June, Congress voted to not only stave off a 21 cut to your Medicare pay, but to increase your revenue by 2.2 percent. However, that vote only kept the cuts at bay through November 30 --and that date is right around the corner.

Effective December 1, your Medicare pay is set to drop by over 23 percent, unless Congress intervenes to reverse the cuts. Add to that the fact that 2011 payments are due to drop by another 6.5 percent starting January 1, and medical practices are facing a perfect storm of payment nightmares. With Congress on recess until the November elections end, it will take some quick wrangling to undo the Medicare payment issues before the November 30 deadline, and that has medical associations worried.

"The AMA is calling on Congress to immediately address this impending crisis when they return to Washington after the November elections," said AMA President Cecil B. Wilson, MD in a Sept. 29 statement. "Without action to stop the cuts, Congress will create a Medicare meltdown with access to care threatened for seniors and the baby boomers who will begin entering Medicare in January. Ultimately, a permanent solution must be passed to fix this broken system, but Congress must first stop the 30 percent payment cuts threatening seniors' access to care now."

Keep an eye on the Insider for more as this story progresses, and for tips on how to maximize your reimbursement in this economically challenged climate.

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