The Texas Medical Association has urged Texas’ major private health plans to compensate practices for the additional supplies and staff required to provide safe patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic and to reimburse practices for rapid COVID-19 tests.
In letters sent earlier this month, TMA and several specialty societies call on Aetna, Anthem, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas, Cigna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare to immediately implement and pay for Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code 99072.
The code is used to report the additional supplies, materials, and clinical staff time over and above the practice expenses included in an office visit or other nonfacility services when performed during a public health emergency.
Although the code was approved in September 2020, none of Texas’ major payers have implemented it. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) also does not recognize the code, despite repeated calls by TMA and the American Medical Association to do so.
“The public health emergency (PHE) continues to threaten practices’ financial viability due to months of lost revenue from practice closures and operating at reduced capacity,” medicine wrote. “Compounding the financial stress of lost revenue, practices also are incurring additional costs to test patients for infection and for heightened infection control protocols and personal protective equipment.”
The letters also implore the private insurers to pay the full costs practices incur for COVID-19 testing, which has been particularly problematic for small and rural practices, according to a New York Times article published in February.
The Texas Academy of Family Physicians, Texas Pediatric Society, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Texas Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians Services also signed the letter.
Last Updated On
March 09, 2021
Originally Published On
March 09, 2021