At the eleventh hour the senate passed the Medicare Access and CHIP reauthorization bill which repealed the almost twenty year old Sustainable Growth Rate formula. The bill has been placed on President Obama’s desk for final signature which is expected.
Medicare will begin processing held Medicare claims today, April 15th, and some of these claims will pay at the lowered SGR rate with additional payment at the higher previous rate to come in a separate payment. CMS will release one day’s worth of claims, and then continue to hold all other claims pending the President’s signature. This should limit the number of claims that will need to be reprocessed.
Of note, the bill did not delay ICD10, and the new codes will go into effect on October 1, 2015. If your practice was waiting for another delay, it looks like you need wait no more. There will be no delay and you should start preparing for implementation.
American Physician will be releasing training materials for Phlebology practices in late May. Please contact us if you need further information. We will send a small e-flyer once the training DVD and companion/reference guide is available.
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