On March 1, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released Change Request 8214, which outlines rules related to the extension of the Low Volume Adjustment (LVA) and Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) regulations, as authorized by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 . The Federal Register notification related to these extensions, CMS 1588-N, was released on March 4, 2013, and officially published March 7, 2013. Hospitals will need to move quickly to take full advantage of the LVA extension, and they may be surprised by some of the requirements of the MDH extension
Payment Rate Updates CMS has proposed a 2.1 percent update to the federal operating standardized amount. This is based on a 3 percent market basket update, reduced by two factors mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA): a 0.8 percent economy wide productivity adjustment and an additional 0.1 percent reduction.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued proposed rules to update the End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) prospective payment rates and quality incentive program (QIP) and ambulance fee schedules, as well as proposed changes to the definition of Durable Medical Equipment (DME). CMS projects payment rates for dialysis treatments will increase by 1.8 percent, representing a projected inflation (or ESRD market basket) increase of 3 percent, less a projected productivity adjustment of 1.2 percent as required by statute, effective for dialysis treatments furnished for calendar year 2012.
Have you received notification from your Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) to revalidate your Medicare enrollment information? If not, be prepared for it. Section 6401(a) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act requires all enrolled providers and suppliers to revalidate their enrollment information under new enrollment screening criteria.