CMS rescinded a change order affecting the use of place of service (“POS”) codes used for the interpretation of diagnostic tests. Originally issued on December 11, 2009, the rescinded Change Request (“CR”) led to significant confusion about the POS for reporting the reading of diagnostic tests. MLN Matters 6375, which…
The home health world has been turned upside down. As many are aware, new regulations have been implemented that affect ownership changes for home health agencies (“HHAs”). On January 21, 2010, CMS published a “Medicare Learning Network Provider Inquiry Assistance.” This publication clearly states that any “ownership change” within 36…
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act establishes an incentive program that provides incentive payments to eligible physicians (EP) and eligible hospitals for meaningfully using electronic health records (EHR). While many specialists are learning the conditions under which they can capitalize on these incentive payments, anesthesiologists will learn that they do…
CMS announced new demonstration programs it plans to implement to “identify, develop, test, and disseminate major and multi-faceted improvements to the health care system.” The Medicare Modernization Act requires that Medicare conduct a five-year demonstration program to achieve four main goals: (1) to improve patient safety; (2) to enhance quality;…
All too often, services provided by hospices are denied by Medicare due to incomplete or inaccurate documentation practices that can easily be prevented. A September report by the HHS Office of Inspector General analyzed some of the most common documentation inadequacies in hospice services provided to beneficiaries at nursing facilities,…
Generally, Durable Medical Equipment (“DME”) suppliers are statutorily prohibited from telemarketing Medicare beneficiaries regarding furnishing a covered item. There are three exceptions to this rule: (a) the beneficiary has given written consent to be contacted by the supplier; (b) the contact is regarding a covered item that the supplier has…
The federal estate tax has been repealed for 2010 only and will be re-imposed in 2011. Congressional efforts to cancel the repeal failed late last year. Now that Congress is back in session, it is likely Congress will again try to cancel the repeal retroactive to January 1, 2010. Even…
The January 2010 issue of Link, the online journal of the AHRA, is now available. This issue includes a new column called Regulatory Review, the first installment of which is called “Healthcare Marketing–Navigating the Regulatory Landscape.” The column, to be a regular feature in Link, is authored by The Health…
A health care law Call for Articles has been announced by the West Virginia Law Review. The announcement is set forth below: Call for Articles The West Virginia Law Review announces a call for articles and invites scholars, practitioners, and researchers to submit contributions for its upcoming issue focusing on…
US Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius presented the first US National Health Security Strategy (“NHSS”) in December 2009. The NHSS “is intended to galvanize efforts to minimize the health consequences associated with significant health incidents.” These incidents involve the “large-scale incidents” including terrorist attacks, hurricanes, SARS, H1N1,…