IMPORTANT UPDATE
July 6, 2010 — Late Friday, July 2nd, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the review copy of the 2011 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS) proposed rule. The Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) will be reviewing the rule and submitting comments to CMS addressing issues of concern by the deadline of August. 31, 2010. The agency will issue the final rule by Nov. 1, 2010. Please check the SCCT website next week for details on the proposed HOPPS rule.
Summary — 2011 Proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS).
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IMPORTANT UPDATE ON CMS PECOS ENROLLMENT DEADLINE —
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the proposed rule on the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS).
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IMPORTANT MEDICARE REIMBURSEMENT UPDATE — The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation to halt the 21.3 percent Medicare physician fee schedule cut and replace it with a 2.2 percent positive payment update through November 2010.
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Important Medicare Reimbursement Update — Leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate remain at a stalemate over action to fix the flawed Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, the underpinning of Medicare physician payment.
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Breaking News: CMS has instructed Medicare contractors to hold claims for an additional three business days. This means that contractors will hold claims through Thursday, June 17th, lifting the hold on Friday, June 18th.
ACTION NEEDED TODAY — MORE INFORMATION
SCCT Grassroots Action Alert — Lend Your Voice to Prevent Further Congressional Delays in Addressing Medicare Physician Payment —
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PECOS Enrollment Deadline for Referring Physicians Clarified.
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Reimbursement Alert — Congress has once again failed to stop the 21.2 percent Medicare physician fee cut scheduled to take effect June 1, 2010, as mandated under the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate formula.
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May 25, 2010 — Learn Why Accreditation Is Important To Your CT Facility and How To Submit a Successful Application — Live Webinars — 10:30 am & 5:00 pm
Join ICACTL Technical Manager Mary Lally, MS, RT(R)(MR), to discuss the benefits of accreditation and learn more about the program through this webinar presentation with live Q&A.
Click here for more details.
SCCT is pleased to announce that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released technical corrections to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule on May 7, 2010.
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Reimbursement Update— United States Senate finally approved legislation to reinstate Medicare physician fees to 2009 levels.
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On March 30 and 31, 2010, SCCT President Jack A. Ziffer, MD, PhD, participated in the Food and Drug Administration's public meeting on ways to reduce radiation exposure from medical imaging.
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March 29, 2010
Holding of April Claims for Services Paid Under the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS)
The Temporary Extension Act of 2010 extended the zero percent (0%) update to the 2010 MPFS through March 31, 2010. Unfortunately Congress left for the Spring District Work Period on March 26th without addressing physician payment for 2010. Therefore a 21 percent Medicare cut to physicians is scheduled to begin on April 1st.
CMS believes that Congress will work to address this when they return to Washington, DC April 9th. Consequently they have instructed contractors to hold claims containing services paid under the MPFS (including anesthesia services) for the first 10 business days of April. This hold will only affect claims with dates of service April 1, 2010, and forward.
SCCT will continue to update our members as additional information becomes available.
Congress Passes Health Care Reform Legislation — March 21, 2010
Addendum: The Senate has failed to approve the House provision to halt the 21.2 percent Medicare physician payment cut. This means that effective April 1, 2010, a cut of 21.2 percent will apply to every Medicare service billed. Now, the Senate has gone home for the Spring District Work Period. Be sure to contact your two U.S. Senators and express your outrage that the Senate has yet again failed patients and physicians.
Late March 21, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the Senate version of health care reform by a vote of 219 - 212. The President signed the bill into law March 23, 2010. Key provisions of the legislation include health insurance reforms, coverage for the uninsured, and prevention and wellness initiatives. Medicare physician payment reform is not addressed in this legislation.
The House of Representatives also approved, by a vote of 220 - 211, a package of changes to the Senate bill under a process called reconciliation. The Senate must now approve the House changes to the Senate bill. At this point it is uncertain if the Senate will approve the reconciliation package. (remove these last two sentences) and replace them with "The Senate recently approved the reconciliation changes."
Click here to view a summary of key provisions of the health care reform and reconciliation bills.
ICACTL Raises Patient Radiation Safety Standards
Click here for details.
Reimbursement Alert
Congress passed and President Obama signed into law (December 21, 2009) a provision to delay the scheduled 21.2 percent Medicare physician payment cut until March 1, 2010. The cut was slated to take effect January 1, 2010, due to mandated adjustments in the conversion factor under the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula that governs physician payment. This two-month delay gives Congress the opportunity to address physician payment reform next year. SCCT will be calling on you to contact your lawmakers on this important issue. Watch for grassroots alerts early in the new year. Your voices count most!
Important Changes to ACCF/AHA Clinical Competence Statement on CCT, click here to read more.
CMS Releases Final 2010 Physician Payment Rule, click here to read more.
CMS Releases Final 2010 Hospital Outpatient Payment Rule, click here to read more.
New Category 1 Codes for Cardiac Computed Tomography
In a sentinel achievement for the specialty, SCCT is pleased to announce New Category 1 Codes for Cardiac Computed Tomography. Effective January 1, 2010, there will be 4 new Category 1 codes to report cardiac computed tomography. This accomplishment represents a significant step forward to achieve broader patient access to this proven technology. To read more
click here
To learn how you can help ensure the advancement of the field of cardiovascular CT, please
click here.
Be A Part of the SCCT Grassroots Coalition —
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