Medicare

Medicare Enrollment Application Revised

 

A new Medicare enrollment application form for physicians and nonphysician practitioners will go into effect May 1.

The CMS-855I form, revised in December 2018, is available for use now. After April 30, Novitas Solutions and the other Medicare administrative contractors will accept only this new version.

Get the Details  

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.

Beyond the Slogan “Medicare for All”

 

Medicare For All is becoming popular among Democratic lawmakers and the public. But, as popular as the concept is, the details are lost in the simple slogan of “Medicare for All.

What Does "Medicare For All" Really Mean?  

Buying Time

 

The chorus was loud, broad, and adamant. And for now, it helped avert disaster. Ellia Ciammaichella, DO, was a member of that chorus when the Medicare proposed dramatic changes to its 2019 physician fee schedule. Medicine howled, flooding Medicare with written objections.

Read the Economics story in Texas Medicine.

Medicine's Warnings Prompt Medicare to Delay Coding, Payment Changes  

Stop Proposed Medicare Changes, TMA Tells Lawmakers

 

Federal lawmakers must hold hearings immediately to stop proposed changes to Medicare that would cause lasting and serious damage to the program and to health care in the United States, Texas Medical Association President Douglas Curran, MD, told two key Texas congressmen.

Your Help Is Needed  

75 Ways the Big Medicare Changes Are Very Bad for Physicians and Patients

 

Exactly two months ago, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services unveiled a massive package of proposed new rules for the Medicare program with the promise that it would “increase the amount of time that doctors and other clinicians can spend with their patients by reducing the burden of paperwork that clinicians face when billing Medicare.”

Read TMA's Painstakingly Detailed Comment Letter  

Three Things to Know About the New Medicare Cards

 

New Railroad Retirement Board Medicare cards are in the mail, and new Medicare cards for Texans will “mail soon,” according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Here are three things to know about the new cards and the new Medicare Beneficiary Identifier.

Learn More

Replace Harmful Restrictions With Realistic Quality-Based Incentives

 

TMA believes the patient-physician relationship must be preserved regardless of patients’ health conditions, ethnicity, economic circumstances, demographics, or treatment compliance patterns. Unfortunately, many pay-for-performance strategies, commonly referred to as “value-based payment models,” that intend to contain health costs could undermine this relationship.

Preserve Patient-Physician Relationship  

Current Medicare News

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.

On Their Way: New Medicare Patient ID Numbers
The New Medicare Card project is part of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and requires CMS to remove the Social Security number from Medicare cards out of concerns over identity theft.

Medicare-Eligible TRS Retirees Move to New Humana Health Plan
If you were contracted with Humana MA, you will be paid your contracted rates. If you were not contracted with Humana and you elect to see patients covered under the new TRS-Care MA plan, Humana is required to pay you the Medicare-allowed amount.

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

Medicare Adds Telemedicine Codes
The newly adopted 2018 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule has added a few new codes to the list of telehealth services Medicare will cover.

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.

How to Identify Dual-Eligible Patients
You must accept as payment in full the Medicare payment and Medicaid payment for services you provide to a patient enrolled in the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program.

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.