Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Effective March 1, you'll watch Medicare payments drop unless legislators come to an agreement. It almost sounds like a broken record by now, but Part B practices are once again at risk of facing 27 percent cuts to Medicare payment in just a few weeks. That's because the government's short-term patch to the pay cuts only extends through Feb. 29 -- which means March 1 is the date that the conversion factor will drop from the current $34.0376 to just $24.6712, as prescribed in the 2012 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule. Background: Although the pay cut was supposed to kick in on Jan. 1, a Congressional vote on Dec. 23 allowed practices a reprieve through Feb. 29. It was expected that legislators would spend those two months addressing permanent solutions to the annual Medicare pay issues, but whether that has happened is a source of confusion. Impasse: Current reports indicate [...]