August 2007 Newsletter
CMS Announces Proposals
CY 2008 Physician Fee Schedule and Part B Changes
On July 12, 2007, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule addressing certain provisions of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 and making changes to the Medicare Part B payment policy.
The proposed rule discusses:
- Refinements to resource-based practice expense Relative Value Units (RVUs)
- Changes to geographic practice cost indices
- Malpractice RVUs; requests for additions to the list of telehealth services
- Several coding issues including additional codes from the 5-Year Review
- Payment for covered outpatient drugs and biologicals
- The competitive acquisition program
- Clinical lab fee schedule issues
- Payment for renal dialysis services
- Performance standards for independent diagnostic testing facilities
- Expiration of the Physician Scarcity Area (PSA) bonus payment
- Conforming and clarifying changes for comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities
- A process for updating the drug compendia
- Physician self-referral issues
- Beneficiary signature for ambulance transport services
- Durable medical equipment update
- The chiropractic services demonstration
- A Medicare economic index data change
- Technical corrections
- Issues related to therapy services
- Revisions to the ambulance fee schedule
- The ambulance inflation factor for CY 2008
- The proposal to eliminate the exemption for computer-generated facsimile transmissions from the National Council for Prescription Drug Programs (NCPDP) SCRIPT standard for transmitting prescription and certain prescription-related information for Part D eligible individuals.