You may remember that congress passed a measure last December postponing the cut until March 1. The House then passed a bill on Feb. 18 providing another temporary stay until March 31, but the Senate was unable to approve the measure before adjourning for the weekend on Feb. 26, thus the cut goes into effect today with no last minute reprieve.
In checking over the web, most state and specialty associations are listing the following CMS advisement. It seems that CMS sent out an e-mail message giving the following suggestion to providers. I could not find this information on their web site (which if you've been there can be rather difficult to navigate, so it doesn't mean that it's not there). I also couldn't find any current press releases about it on Congress', the Senate's, or the main government web sites.
CMS is advising the contractors (PalmettoGBA) to hold all claims for the next 10 days. This may give the Senate time to pass legislation. This however, does suspend the processing of any claims for 10 days which also will result in a delay in cash flow from 7 -14 days.
Check and decide what you can do that will give your office the best chance. If you can hold your billing, it looks to be a good idea.
It is unfortunate that the government was so busy trying to force their healthcare agendas at each other, that they forgot to look after those doing the work and taking care of the people. I also think that it is a bit of a problem, because they have so many unrelated things packed into the legislation package that includes canceling this cut. There are many unrelated debates that will have to be resolved to pass this with the other add-ons. Don't forget that you may need to add your voice and turn up the volume to make sure that you are heard in Washington D.C.
Additional: 3/2/10
Thanks to Gail Brown, we now have the text from the original WPS e-mail that was sent out.
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WPS Medicare eNews for Friday, February 26, 2010
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INFORMATION REGARDING THE HOLDING OF CLAIMS FOR SERVICES PAID UNDER THE 2010 MEDICARE PHYSICIAN FEE SCHEDULE (MPFS) (CMS Learnresource)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is working with Congress, health care providers, and the beneficiary community to avoid disruption in the delivery of health care services and payment of claims for physicians, non-physician practitioners, and other providers of services paid under the Medicare physician fee schedule. As you are aware, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010 provided a zero percent (0%) update to the 2010 MPFS effective for dates of service January 1, 2010, through February 28, 2010.
We believe Congress is working to avoid the negative update that will take effect March 1. Consequently, CMS has instructed its contactors to hold claims containing services paid under the MPFS for the first 10 business days of March. The holding of MPFS claims will only affect claims with dates of service March 1, 2010, and forward. This hold should have a minimum impact on provider cash flow because, under current law, clean
electronic claims are not paid any sooner than 14 calendar days (29 for paper claims) after the date of receipt. Be on the alert for more
information about the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Update.
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