June 30, 2008
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will temporarily hold claims for services provided on or after July 1st in the hope that Congress will act quickly to stop the 10.6% payment cut.
This means that anesthesiologists and other physicians may never see a remittance reflecting the 10.6% cut – if:
- The Senate approves (and Congress passes) a bill eliminating the cut immediately after it returns from the July Fourth recess;
- The President does not veto the bill, as he has threatened to do.
It also means that services provided beginning on July 1st will likely be paid later than normal. What the Bush Administration did, specifically, was to instruct carriers not to process claims for the first ten business days of July. Theoretically a claim filed on July 1st for a case performed that day could be paid at the unreduced rate as early as July 15th, but anesthesiology practices should plan for some delay. ABC clients should work with their managers to ensure as little cash flow disruption as possible.
Along with the MGMA, we are concerned that the payment freeze “is a largely symbolic gesture to mitigate the negative provider and public response to the Administration’s veto threat over H.R. 6331,” the House version of the corrective legislation for which 129 Republican Congressmen and 100% of the Democratic Members voted on June 24th. We strongly encourage MGMA, ASA and AMA members and indeed all anesthesia professionals to participate in these organizations’ calls for grass-roots action. Call your Senators and Members of Congress now!
