2010-03-11
Senate Passes Seven Month Extension of
Current Medicare Physician Payment; Contact the House of Representatives Now to
Stop the 21 Percent Cut
On March 9, the U.S.
Senate passed HR 4213, a bill to extend certain tax policies and stimulate
job growth, by a vote of 62-36. The bill
also includes a provision that would extend current Medicare physician payment
rates until October 1, 2010. The bill
will now be sent to the House of Representatives where amendments are
possible. Consequently, it is not
certain if this extension of Medicare payment rates can be signed into law
before the current Medicare physician payment freeze expires on April 1.
Please
join ASH’s
advocacy campaign to urge passage of HR 4213 and protect physician access
to Medicare and TriCare beneficiaries. It is critical that all members of the
House of Representatives hear from their physician constituents about the need
to prevent the 21 percent Medicare payment cut scheduled to begin April 1. Please visit the ASH Advocacy Center today to send a
letter to your representative. ASH
continues to advocate for a permanent fix of the Medicare physician payment
formula so that physicians will be assured adequate and stable compensation for
their work. Efforts by ASH’s Grassroots
Network and the physician community have prevented scheduled payment cuts twice
this year and continue to pressure Congress for a long-term solution.
Congressional Negotiations Continue on
Health Reform Legislation; Complex Policy Issues and Procedural Tactics in
Play
Congressional negotiators assembling a health-care overhaul package are considering procedural as well as policy details as
they try to obtain the votes needed in both the House and Senate to complete
President Obama’s legislative priority. Read more.
Information
on How the New ESA REMS Program Will Affect MDS Patients
On March
24, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will require that all
drugs categorized as erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) be prescribed and used
under a risk management program, known as a risk evaluation and mitigation
strategy (REMS), to ensure the safe use of these drugs. Since the FDA announced the REMS program, ASH
has heard from several hematologists who raised questions and concerns about
how the program will apply to their patients with myelodysplastic syndrome
(MDS). Read more.
March is DVT Awareness Month: ASH Recommendations Unveiled to Respond to Public Health Crisis in DVT and PE
Recommendations to address the growing
public health crisis in deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE)
have been published in the March 9, 2010,
Supplement to American
Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM): Blood Disorders in Public Health –
Making the Connection. Read more.
Medicare Publishes New
Physician Resources Concerning the Consultation Code
Elimination and Physician Payment
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services (CMS) Medicare Learning Network (MLN) has announced the availability of new and updated resources to assist physicians
with coding given the elimination on January 1, 2010, of CPT consultation codes
(ranges 99241-99245 and 99251-99255).
Please refer to "Questions and Answers on Reporting Physician Consultation Services," and
"Revisions to Consultation Services Payment Policy," on the CMS Web site.
The Medicare
Physician Fee Schedule Fact Sheet (March 2010) has been revised to
include information about the two month zero percent update to the 2010
Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) effective for dates of service January
1, 2010, through March 31, 2010. This fact sheet, which also provides
information about MPFS payment rates and the MPFS payment rates formula, is
available for download from the CMS MLN.
