This belongs to you.
If you are concerned about any of the recent actions Congress
has taken that will affect your patients or your business, then let
your elected officials know. To locate your state's senators and
representatives, visit www.us.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml for districts and
contact information.
— The Editors
“The unprecedented $9.5 billion reduction in improper
Medicare payments reflects our commitment to careful measurement
and targeted oversight, and we intend to keep building on those
efforts.”
-CMS Administrator Mark McClellan on the agency's aggressive
oversight and improvement efforts, which last year, cut improper
payments for fee-for-service Medicare claims in half.
Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
“Even at $57 per month, the dispensing fee does not
cover the many services associated with providing home inhalation
therapy to medicare beneficiaries … and there is no data that
justifies a reduction in the fee.”
-A response from The American Association for Homecare to a
reduction in CMS' dispensing fee for Part B respiratory
medications, to begin this year.
Source: American Association for Homecare
7,918 The number of people who will turn 60 each day in 2006.
That amounts to 330 every hour.
-According to the most recent estimates, there were 78.2 million
baby boomers as of July 1, 2005. This year, the oldest of the baby
boomers, the generation born between 1946 and 1964, will turn 60
years old.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau
“RAMP does not believe [that requiring] physicians to
provide suppliers with documentation of medical need directly from
progress notes will address CMS' stated objective of ensuring the
existence of adequate documentation to substantiate medical
need … this new process also will not address CMS'
objective to reduce the possibility of fraud and abuse. In fact, it
may actually make it easier for such activities to
occur.”
-A response from RAMP outlining what the group believes are
flaws in CMS' Interim Final Rule on power mobility devices.
Source: Restore Access to Mobility Partnership
