ED Coding and Reimbursement Alert

Feds could still change cuts before implementation date.Get ready for another year of nail-biting to find out whether your Medicare payments will be slashed. "The calendar year 2011 Physician fee schedule conversion factor is $25.5217," notes the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, printed in the Federal Register that will be published on Nov. 29. This amounts to a dismal 30 percent cut compared to the current rate of $36.0846."While Congress has provided temporary relief from these reductions every year since 2003, a long-term solution is critical," the fee schedule notes. "We are committed to permanently reforming the Medicare payment formula." As most practices know, last June, Congress voted to not only stave off a 21 percent cut to your Medicare pay, but to increase your revenue by 2.2 percent. However, that vote only kept the cuts at bay through November 30 -- and that date is right [...]