Medicare

Medicare Recouping COVID-19 Loans

 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently began automatic recoupment of advance payments it made to practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, the agency announced. 

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Medicare Inquiries

Do you have questions and need quick answers? Contact Novitas Solutions with questions.

(855) 252-8782
Mon.-Fri. (8 am-5 pm)

You can also contact the TMA Knowledge Center at (800) 880-7955.

Medicare Fee Schedule Cut, Quality Requirements Unsustainable Amid Pandemic, TMA Tells CMS

 

While applauding a Medicare proposal to continue offering telehealth flexibilities, TMA objected to a proposed pay cut for many physicians serving that patient population.

See TMA's Comments on
the 2022 Fee Schedule  

Medicare 2% Payment Cut Could Be Suspended Through 2021

 

Federal lawmakers are moving forward on extending the suspension of the Medicare sequestration, the federal government’s 2% across-the-board payment cut, through the end of the year.

Read About the Suspension  

How Health Plans Are Covering COVID-19 Testing and Treatment

 

Many health insurers in Texas are waiving patient costs associated with COVID-19. Last week in a news release, Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Department of Insurance asked insurers and HMOs to cover testing consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance, and telemedicine visits.

COVID-19 and Health Plans: What's Covered?  

Get Paid for End-of-Life Care Discussions With Patients

 

Have you talked to your patients about voluntary advance care planning? 
Did you know that Medicare will pay for those discussions as either a separate Part B medically necessary service or an optional element of a patient’s annual wellness visit? 

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Medicare Lab Fee Includes Routine Venipuncture

 

If a patient is a Medicare beneficiary, can you bill Medicare for the routine task of drawing a blood sample? 
The answer: It depends.

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More Medicare News

The Latest COVID-19 Relief Bill: Hits and Misses for Medicine
The third major COVID-19 relief measure includes promising funding for a variety of important health measures in Texas. But there’s also the prospect of a Medicare physician payment cut.

Support Medicare Payment Parity for Another Year, TMA Tells Lawmakers
The Texas Medical Association is calling on Texas’ federal lawmakers to support a measure that would prevent Medicare from cutting payments to certain specialties for a year.

The Low-Down on Looking Up Medicare MBIs
Now that Medicare has begun replacing patients’ Health Insurance Claim Numbers (HICN) with the Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI), you might be wondering how you’ll find those MBIs.

Can’t Say It Enough: Document, Document, Document
When Medicare delves into claims errors, one stands out above the rest: insufficient documentation.

Ten Services You Can Bill Medicare for Separately From a Surgical Procedure
See which services fall outside “normal,” so you can bill Medicare for them separately from that surgical procedure.

Ways to Avoid a Medicare Appeal
Novitas Solutions reports receiving 1.7 million requests per year to correct minor errors or omissions of Medicare claim information. 

Medicare Revalidation: It Begins Again 
Medicare provider enrollment revalidation has entered phase two. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has completed its initial round of revalidations under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and will be resuming regular revalidation cycles — for physicians, that generally means revalidation every five years.

Hospice Certification Form How-to
Unclear about exactly what information a Medicare hospice certification or recertification form must contain? CMS offers guidance on essential elements the form must have.