Rehab

CMS eliminates manual exceptions process

Rehab Regs, January 5, 2007

Rehab providers will no longer have to worry about submitting letters to request manual exceptions to the Medicare therapy caps now that CMS eliminated the manual exceptions process in Transmittal 1145.

The move, which makes all exceptions automatic, was announced by CMS December 29 and went into effect January 1 with an implementation date of January 29. Rehab providers still must follow the requirements for the automatic exceptions process as they did in 2006, though CMS expanded the list of ICD-9 codes and complexities that qualify a patient for an automatic exception to the $1,780 therapy caps in 2007.

To view Transmittal 1145 and to see the updated list of ICD-9 codes and complexities that justify an automatic exception, go to www.hcpro.com/content/65810.cfm and click on "View PDF File."

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