Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

At nearly the last minute, lawmakers ensure that you won't lose 27 percent. Although the government appeared poised to take a big bite out of your next Part B payments, you have another two months before you need to worry about losing pay. That's because the 27 percent Medicare pay cuts that practices have feared since last fall were once again kicked to the curb by Congress, resulting in a Medicare Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor of $34.0376 through Feb. 29. On Dec. 23, the House followed the Senate's lead in voting to halt the Medicare pay cut for two months, which will freeze Medicare pay at 2011 rates through the end of February. Problems aren't over: Although Medicare pay is now set to drop on March 1, the AMA is hopeful that Congress will find a longer-term solution before then. "With this brief reprieve from the massive 27 percent [...]