The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released on Tuesday the final physician fee schedule rule that sets out payment rates for 2022. The rule also includes several provisions that aim to expand flexibility for telehealth reimbursement for mental health. CMS had expanded flexibility for providers to get Medicare reimbursement for telehealth at the onset […]
As the nation’s largest health care payer, responsible for more than one in five dollars spent on health care within the United States, Medicare plays a key role in transitioning the health care system away from fee-for-service, which incentivizes quantity of care, and towards value-based care, which incentivizes high-quality care and smarter spending. The passage […]
The CMS Behavioral Health Strategy covers multiple elements including access to prevention and treatment services for substance use disorders, mental health services, crisis intervention and pain care; and further enable care that is well-coordinated and effectively integrated. The CMS Behavioral Health Strategy also seeks to remove barriers to care and services, and to adopt a […]
Following President Joe Biden’s State of the Union Address on Tuesday, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Xavier Becerra kicked off the National Tour to Strengthen Mental Health in an effort to hear directly from Americans across the country about the behavioral health challenges they’re facing and engage with local elected officials and leaders to […]
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is expanding access to behavioral health care, cancer screening coverage, and dental care. The Calendar Year 2023 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule announced today also promotes innovation and coordinated care in the Medicare program through Accountable […]
The experience of cancer — of getting a cancer diagnosis, surviving cancer, losing someone to cancer — has touched virtually every American family. This is personal for the President and First Lady, like it is for so many of you. As Vice President, in 2016, Joe Biden led the Cancer Moonshot with the mission to […]
Physician payment cuts are coming, significant changes to E/M services are finalized, and key reporting revisions are hitting telehealth and audio-only services, according to the final 2023 Medicare physician fee schedule. Proposed payment cuts that drew vocal criticism from physician advocacy groups will move forward as planned, as CMS announced a 4.5% reduction to the 2023 Medicare Part B […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Nov. 1 issued a final rule that updates the physician fee schedule (PFS) for calendar year (CY) 2023. The rule also includes changes related to the Medicare Shared Savings Program and the Quality Payment Program (QPP), both of which were created by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act […]
WASHINGTON — Physician groups expressed concerns over what one group called a “substantial” decrease in Medicare fee-for-service physician payments under a final rule for 2023 issued Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule includes a 4.5% decrease in the conversion factor — the multiplier that Medicare applies to […]
Today, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through its Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), is expanding access to behavioral health care, cancer screening coverage, and dental care. The Calendar Year 2023 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule announced today also promotes innovation and coordinated care in the Medicare program through […]
Healthcare providers, including doctors and therapists who treat nursing home patients, will see a key payment factor cut by 4.4% next year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced the change to the Medicare Physician Pay Schedule conversion factor in a broader physician payment rule published late Tuesday. The conversion factor is part of a […]
The internet, COVID-19 pandemic and increased access to smartphones and laptops has changed the way people shop, bank, travel and work. It also has changed how people manage their health care. Telehealth, including telemedicine and virtual visits, uses digital information and communication technologies to access health care services remotely and manage your health care. It’s […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized new rules aimed at expanding access to behavioral health for Medicare beneficiaries. On Tuesday, CMS announced it finalized rules that allow for greater flexibility in billing and supervising certain types of providers as well as permanently covering some telehealth services provided in Medicare beneficiaries’ homes. They […]
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the United States, states, payers, and providers are looking for ways to expand access to telehealth services. Telehealth is an essential tool in ensuring patients are able to access the healthcare services they need in as safe a manner as possible. In order to provide our clients with quick […]
COVID-19 has exacerbated the nation’s struggle with mental health and substance use disorders (collectively called “behavioral health conditions”), fueling a full-blown crisis. For some Americans during the pandemic, this has meant feeling depressed and hopeless, making it challenging for them to perform everyday tasks. For older Americans and people with disabilities who may have already […]
