From: Dr. Art LeVine @ iCollect Medical Billing eNewsletter 02212023
Hello Doctors and Staff!
I hope your 2023 has started off in grand fashion and that your New Year’s resolutions are well underway!
I had wanted to get this information out to everyone towards the end of January, but the new Congress, specifically the House of Representatives, had just a couple of delays getting their own house in order. Once that side-show was seemingly over there was chatter that they may attempt to do a deep dive into chopping so-called entitlement programs such as Medicare and Social Security, and begin primarily by targeting the 2023 Medicare program mainly focusing on the fee schedule and covered benefits. Such changes could have quite the ripple-effect, especially here in Florida, as it would not only affect reimbursements for straight Medicare patients, but PIP reimbursements, and even Medicare Advantage plans. So, yours truly didn’t want to release the 2023 Medicare fee schedules to you approved by Congress in November 2022 if there was going to be another re-vamp of those figures.
As a reminder, healthcare providers were originally preparing for as much as 8.5% in reimbursement cuts from Medicare to many covered services. More than 150 provider groups and organizations successfully rallied together to petition Congress and Medicare to stop such draconian measures at a time when rising costs and inflation were already affecting healthcare practices. So, rather than an immediate 8.5% cut right away to those earmarked services a 2% rollback was put in effect for 2023, and then 1.25% for 2024. Of course, the House and Congress can shake up this etch-a-sketch box [apologies to late Millennials and Gen Z’ers – ask your parents if you don’t know what that is] and erase it all at their whim, so it’s best to digest this a year at a time and see how the literal pieces fall. Also, keep your ears open for discussions about Medicare physician payment reform to create stability in the program as was recently suggested by the current president of the AMA.
Be this all as it may, the House apparently has taken on more than what they can find common ground on, it’s past the mid-point in February, and my trigger finger to hit “Send” and get this love note out to you was beyond itchy – so here we are.
Our billing and collection clients can request the last approved fee schedule for their Locality, and all others can request the link to download their fee schedules as well.
On a tangential note, we’ve been noticing that a few offices are still using the old Medicare Part B deductible amount from 2022. Please note that the 2023 Medicare Part B deductible is $226 which is a $7 decline from 2022. This could also have an effect on some Medicare Advantage plans so be sure to verify the insurance coverage of those and all other plans. If you over-collected from your Medicare patients you must credit or return the overage amount to the patient.
Last, providers and staff must keep vigilant in watching for emails from Medicare’s PECOS system. PECOS is the Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System. Medicare, or CMS, verifies physicians’ status by using its provider enrollment database and if a physician does not have an approved enrollment record Medicare will not pay for services provided to those patients. PECOS will randomly require providers to revalidate their information in order to stay in their good graces. If you have not checked or verified your status with CMS in the past year I would strongly suggest you do so right away, and then calendar to check this site every six months to ensure your registration, revalidation, and compliance. You should check your status at https://pecos.cms.hhs.gov.
Think you might require billing and collection services? Call us for a no obligation chat to discuss your needs or any difficulties you may be experiencing with your insurance revenue management. We work and bill directly from your software, and our knowledge and experience in different software programs now exceeds more than a dozen programs! We also post your payments for you directly in your software! Mention you read this e-newsletter and we’ll waive your start-up fee!
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Have you ever visited a Member of Congress in Washington, DC? Extra credit if you were inebriated at the time. Double credits if they were inebriated at the time.
2. Did you have an etch-a-sketch growing up? Was it mine [I’d like it back, please]?
3. Do you know what percentage of your practice is affected by Medicare reimbursement rates [Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Managed Care plans that use Medicare fee schedule, PIP, etc]?
Yours in health and wealth,
Dr. Art
Dr. Arthur I. LeVine
CEO & Founder, iCollect Medical Billing Services, LLC
Past President, Florida Chiropractic Assn.,
Board of Directors, Florida Chiropractic Assn.,
Chairman, Insurance Relations Committee, Florida Chiropractic Assn.,
Co-Chairman, Government Relations Committee, Florida Chiropractic Assn.,
Florida Representative, Congress of Chiropractic State Assns.,
Past Florida Contractor Advisory Council (CAC) Representative
7027 W. Broward Blvd., #229
Plantation, FL 33317
954-530-6232 Office
206-309-4925 Fax to Email
www.icollectmedicalbilling.com
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