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Aug. 31 is the deadline to comment on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS') proposal for cutting Medicare payments to physicians by 21.5 percent next year.
You can comment electronically by clicking here and following the instructions under More Search Options, or by mail. The address is Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services, Attention: CMS-1413-P, PO Box 8013, Baltimore, MD 21244-8013.
In commenting, refer to file code CMS-1413-P.
TMA President William H. Fleming III, MD, says the proposed cut emphasizes the need for Congress to adopt TMA's Texas Medicare Manifesto II to create a system that is fair to physicians and protects patients' access to care.
CMS says in its press release it also plans to stop paying for consultation codes, "which are typically billed by specialists and are paid at a higher rate than equivalent evaluation and management (E/M) services. Practitioners will use existing E/M service codes when providing these services instead. Resulting savings would be redistributed to increase payments for the existing E/M services."
However, CMS also recommends removing physician-administered drugs from the Sustainable Growth Rate formula used to calculate payments.
Action, Aug. 3, 2009
Last Published: 7/31/2009 Print this page
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