Posts Tagged reimbursement

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Before and After: How the Sequester’s Cut will Change Your Medicare Reimbursement

Medicare Sequester Cut Provider ReactionThis is no April Fool’s Joke for medical practices and providers: starting Monday, April 1st, we will face a 2% cut in reimbursement for services due to the “sequester.” The sequester is the other half of the “fiscal cliff” that we reported on back in January. Although not too long ago, all the conventional wisdom was dead set against the government “going over the cliff,” and here we are with both automatic tax hikes and spending cuts now a reality.

Managers might  find themselves giving the same explanations about gridlock to the doctors that you gave your employees when their first paycheck of 2013 was lower than usual.

Although the cut is only 2%, it comes entirely from the 80% of the allowable that the government reimburses, as opposed to the 20% patient responsibility. The cut does not affect the Medicare patient’s co-insurance, not does it affect the 2013 Medicare Part B deductible.

To give medical practice managers an idea of what that cut will look like, here are some sample numbers.

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Posted in: Collections, Billing & Coding, Day-to-Day Operations, Finance, Headlines, Medicare & Reimbursement

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Senate Passes 30-Day Pushback of 21.2% Medicare Payment Cut to Doctors

UPDATE: On June 24, 2010 the House and Senate passed legislation to further delay the Medicare cuts until November 30, 2010. More here.

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Late Tuesday night (March 2), the Senate passed a 30-day extension to the delay in the 21.5% Medicare payment cut.  The House passed a similar measure last week.  If the extension is signed by President Obama tomorrow, March 3, Congress will have another 28 or so days to figure this payment thing out and managers can continue to sweat it out.

Stay tuned for possible additional delays: earlier today Senator Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) unveiled a $150 billion jobs bill that would delay the 21% cut in Medicare reimbursements until August.

CMS is not processing claims until March 12 so they can pay the correct amount and not have to make additional payments to providers.  Payments will still reach providers within the 14-day time frame required.

Posted in: Headlines, Medicare & Reimbursement

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