The flu vaccine payment allowance has been updated for the current year. More information can be found here.
Influenza Vaccine Payment Allowances – Annual Update for 2009-2010 Season
November 10, 2009
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Wrong Surgical or Other Invasive Procedure Performed on a Patient; Surgical or Other Invasive Procedure Performed on the Wrong Body Part; Surgical or Other Invasive Procedure Performed on the Wrong Patient
November 5, 2009CMS has established payment rules for medical errors. More information can be found here.
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Rug Rates
November 4, 2009Presented here are the RUG rates separated by the labor and non-labor component. For the Medicare cost report, the labor portion is adjusted by the wage index that is based on the CBSA of the facility location. Med-Calc has a tool within the Medicare cost report software package that allows the user to calculate the rate based on the wage index provided. For questions regarding the RUG rates, please contact us at 800 447-2540.
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Reflections from Fall Medicare Cost Report Training
November 2, 2009Fall has definitely arrived! The weather is getting cooler and leaves are changing colors. The kids are back in school and are busy learning. We here at Progressive Provider Services have also been busy with our ‘Back to School’ Fall Medicare Cost Report Seminars.
Solomon Melamed hosted Understanding the Medicare Cost Report for Hospitals. This seminar was well attended and gave the participants an in-depth analysis of all of the detailed components necessary to complete a Cost Report for a hospital.
Blimi Schwartz hosted Medicare Cost Reporting 101 for Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF). This webinar clarified and clearly explained the Cost Report and participants left this informative webinar with a confidence of the various aspects of the Cost Report.
Rachel Vaks was the host for Understanding the Medicare Cost Report for Home Health Agencies (HHA). Participants were given a background to Medicare and an overview of the Cost Report process. Then, participants were walked through the actual Cost Report together with the PS&R and given a clear understanding of the many components of the Cost Report.
Cost Report season is approaching quickly and make sure that you’re prepared! Contact Blimi Schwartz at blimi@ppsassistant.com for more information regarding upcoming Cost Report Seminars.
We are also avaiable to take the Cost Report off of your hands and complete it so that you could focus on the more important aspects of your business. Please contact Blimi for more information.
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Industry Call to Action!
September 11, 2009Reports by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the National Association of Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) both revealed that more than 20% of Home Health Agencies nationally are submitting erroneous Medicare cost report data. These cost reports have been used to influence payment decisions for all HHAs.
This is a critical issue for the industry as the cost report is the only source of cost, charge, profit, and visit information that government agencies have available for the home health industry. In addition, the cost report not only influences payment rates, it can be a source of valuable industry benchmarking data when properly prepared.
The NAHC and the Home Care and Hospice Financial Managers Association (HHFMA) have launched a campaign and established a task force that will identify areas in the cost reporting process that need improvement and recommend changes that will help the industry in preparing accurate cost reports.
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Hospice Payments
August 30, 2009The hospice payments effective 10/1/2009 incorporate a 2.1% increase in the base payment, new wage indices, and a new cap for the average payments per beneficiary. (However, the wage index also incorporates a Budget Neutral penalty, reducing the increase to 1.4%)
Your area’s wage index may have changed, so the new net payment may go up or down. Take the labor portion of the rate at the MLN link below and multiply it by your locale’s wage index (found at the August 6 Federal Register), and then add the non-labor portion – to arrive at the new rate for your locale.
The hospice changes may be accessed at the following link.
The August 6 Federal Register can be found here.
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Medicare Cost Report Internet Seminars Approaching
April 24, 2009Just a reminder of the upcoming
Cost Report Webinars:
Medicare Cost Reporting 101 – For Home Health Agencies
Tuesday- April 28, 2009
12:00pm – 3:00 pm EST
Medicare Cost Reporting 101 – For Skilled Nursing Facilities
Thursday - April 30, 2009
12:00pm – 3:00 pm EST
Reserve your space today by calling 800-447-2540 or by sending an email to blimi@ppsassistant.com
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Hospice Payments Decrease Expected
April 23, 2009The combined effects of a 75% reduction to the Budget Neutrality Factor in FY 2010 and a estimated 2.1% hospital market basket update are estimated to decrease payment to hospices in FY 2010 by 1.1%.
More information can be found here.
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Outpatient Therapy Caps With Exceptions in CY 2009
March 11, 2009Outpatient therapy caps are increased to $1,840 for 2009.
For more information, please see this transmittal from CMS.
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Correction to Home Health Prospective Payment System Episode Sequence Edits
March 9, 2009Medicare changed their system to ensure that episode sequence is enforced accurately under the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS). Episodes are paid differently depending upon whether the episode is an early episode (the first or second episode in a sequence of related episodes) or a later episode (the third or later episode in such a sequence).
Payments for episodes with 20 or more therapies are identical regardless of whether the episode is early or later but they were being processed incorrecly into the wrong payment group. This transmittal documents the system changes to prevent these payment errors.
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