Pathology/Lab Coding Alert

Question: Are our pathologist’s Medicare payments still subject to the two percent sequestration cuts, and if so, when does this expire?

Kentucky Subscriber

Answer: The sequestration cuts were instituted in 2013 and are indeed still in place. In fact, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued an “MLN Connects Provider e-News” bulletin, which noted that the two percent payment reduction will stay in place for the foreseeable future.

“The claims payment adjustment will continue to be applied to all claims after determining coinsurance, any applicable deductible, and any applicable Medicare Secondary Payment adjustments,” CMS said in the notification. “Though beneficiary payments for deductibles and coinsurance are not subject to the two percent payment reduction, Medicare’s payment to beneficiaries for unassigned claims is subject to the two percent reduction.”

To read more from the MLN Matters update, visit www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Outreach/FFSProvPartProg/Provider-Partnership-Email-Archive-Items/2016-03-03-Enews.html#_Toc444672557.