5 Medicare payment policy updates you need to know for 2016

With the release of a nearly 1,360-page final rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued the policies that will govern physicians’ Medicare payments in 2016. From the comprehensive list of updates, we’ve identified five particularly noteworthy changes you should know. 1.  Payment rates will drop slightly. The conversation factor that is used to calculate physician payment rates for the year was influenced by no less than three different laws. With the 0.5 percent payment update from the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act (MACRA) included, next year’s conversion factor will be $35.83—down 10 cents from 2015. 2.  Advanced care planning will be a covered service. Medicare will begin paying for two CPT codes for advanced care planning services, which include conversations between patients and their physicians before an illness progresses and during treatment. Previously, advanced care planning only was covered as part of the “Welcome to Medicare” visit for new enrollees. The new payment policy, adopted at the AMA’s recommendation, recognizes both the additional time that is needed to conduct these important conversations and provides the flexibility to hold these planning sessions at the most appropriate time for patients and their families. 3.  “Incident to” services will not be restricted to certain professionals. A proposed change to the regulatory language about who would be able to bill for incident to servic...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news