Medicaid Managed Care Procurement Award
ODM announced the selection of six managed care plans to lead the department’s evolution of managed care services for its more than 3 million members and thousands of medical providers…
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What’s on the Physician Advocacy Action List for 2021
The 2021 AMA National Advocacy Conference is normally held in Washington, with traditional highlights including visits to Capitol Hill where physicians meet with their senators and representatives to seek their support in addressing the concerns of their patients and colleagues.
Physician Specialties Hit Hardest by Medicare Spending in 2020
Medicare spending on physician services decreased by $9.4 billion, or 19 percent, in the first half of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new analysis from the American Medical Association (AMA).
Medicare Boosts Pay for COVID-19 Vaccine Administration
What’s the news: President Joe Biden’s administration is nearly doubling the Medicare payment for administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, raising it from $23 to $40, effective immediately.
How can Telemedicine Evolve in the Post-Covid era?
Telemedicine will not revolutionize health care on its own, but the experience of millions of Americans during the pandemic assures us that it will become a permanent fixture of the health care ecosystem – one likely to account for a growing share of revenue in our $4 trillion health care economy.
Texas Senate Sends Medical Billing Tax Fix to Governor’s Desk
A priority bill for the house of medicine has completed its journey through both chambers of the Texas Legislature. Now, the state’s pending tax on medical billing services is just one signature from Gov. Greg Abbott away from disappearing – which would keep physicians from paying passed-down costs from outsourced medical billing companies.
Temporary Claims Hold Pending Congressional Action to Extend 2% Sequester Reduction Suspension
In anticipation of possible Congressional action to extend the 2% sequester reduction suspension, we instructed the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to hold all claims with dates of service on or after April 1, 2021, for a short period without affecting providers’ cash flow.
The cyberwar against health care practices
While physicians worked to keep their practices financially afloat and dealt with COVID-19, hackers kept busy, too. From January through October of last year, there were 730 publicly disclosed security breaches with more than 22 billion records exposed, according to the cybersecurity firm Tenable.
COVID 19 UPDATE – Automatic Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Policy
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is implementing multiple flexibilities for the Quality Payment Program (QPP) in response to the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic public health emergency (PHE).
Can I Require Employees to Take the COVID-19 Vaccine?
Short answer, yes, but, there are exceptions for certain employees raising certain objections.