Proposed changes would reduce Medicare physician fee schedule
Compliance Monitor, August 3, 2005
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Compliance Monitor!
A proposed change to the payment rate for the Medicare physician fee schedule would reduce payment rates for physicians' services 4.6% for 2006.
The reduction is required by a formula that takes into account substantial growth in overall Medicare spending in 2004, according to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) news release.
"The payment reduction shows the need for more effective ways to pay physicians that help them improve quality and avoid unnecessary costs," said CMS Administrator Mark B. McClellan, MD, PhD. "CMS is working with members of Congress, physician organizations, and other healthcare stakeholders on ways to improve physician payment without adding overall Medicare costs, if at all possible."
The physician fee schedule specifies payment rates to physicians and to other providers for more than 7,000 healthcare services and procedures, ranging from simple office visits to complex surgery. The fee schedule is updated on an annual basis according to a formula specified by statute.
Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to Compliance Monitor!
Related Products
-
Strategies for Health Care Compliance
News and real-life examples to increase the effectiveness of your compliance program. Strategies for Health Care Compliance...
-
Compliance Monitor
This HTML e-mail newsletter delivers news on Medicare and Medicaid fraud and abuse, as well as recent documents and targets...
-
Medicare Weekly Update
Each issue of Medicare Weekly Update includes the latest CMS proposed and final rules, CMS manual revisions, and...
-
Medicare Update for Physician Services
Medicare Update for Physician Services is a free, monthly e-zine that delivers news and information to help physician...
Most Popular
- Articles
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- Identify potential Medicaid RAC target areas
- Topic: CMS, OESS post new security compliance review information, checklist
- Capturing all necessary codes for IUD insertion and removal can be challenging
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- OB services: Coding inside and outside of the package
- QA:Coding multiple initial infusions
- E-mailed
-
- Q/A: Volume requirement for reporting hydration services
- Featured blog post: Nurses face felony charges after reporting physician to the Texas Medical Board
- HIPAA Q&A: Level of encryption needed for email
- CMS has reformulated payments for some bilateral procedures
- Q&A: Follow CMS' coding guidelines when using modifier -25
- What does case-mix index mean to you?
- Catch up on what's new with injections and infusions
- New conflicts of interest create new challenges
- Q/A. One injection code or two?
- Cohesive History and Physical Requirements
- Searched