The House and the Senate voted in favor of the "Protecting Access to
Medicare Act of 2014." The legislation stops the payment cut of 24% that would
have occurred on April 1. The House passed the legislation by a voice vote on
March 27. The Senate passed its identical version of the House bill on March 31
by a vote of 64 to 35. MSNJ, AMA, and virtually all of organized medicine
opposed this bill because it failed to repeal the flawed SGR payment formula
that will continue to result in annual payment cuts. Over the past year,
bipartisan, bicameral policy was developed that would have eliminated the SGR
and replaced it with a Medicare payment reform. Congress failed to seize this
historic opportunity. Key terms of the legislation follow
Extends the 0.5% payment update through the end of 2014.
Provides a freeze between January 1, 2015 and March 2015
Delays implementation of ICD-10 for at least one year through October 1,
2015.
Practices Must Start
Using the New CMS 1500 Claim Form by April 1
The CMS-1500 Claim Form has
been revised to more adequately support the use of the ICD-10 diagnosis code
set. The form will now give physicians the ability to indicate whether they are
using ICD-9 or ICD-10 diagnosis codes.
Medicare will only accept the
revised version of the form starting April 1, 2014, as will many other
payors.
