The CDC has posted the FY2020 ICD-CM final code changes, and there were no changes to the proposed list of 273 new, 30 revised and 21 invalidated codes that were released in the proposed inpatient hospital prospective payment system rule, April 23.
CMS finalized a rule on May 7 aimed at streamlining the Medicare appeals process by removing the signature requirement for appeal requests of Parts A and B claims and Part D prescription drug coverage determinations.
U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras last week reaffirmed that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) exceeded its authority when it made 2018 payment cuts to outpatient hospitals for certain drugs purchased through the 340B drug pricing program, and extended the ruling to 2019 payment cuts.
Provider participation in the BPCI Advanced program fell by 16% between October 1, 2018, and March 1, 2019, at the initiation of the risk-bearing phase of the voluntary payment program. Overall participation includes nearly 1,300 providers still participating, according to CMS.
CMS finalized changes to NCCI Medically Unlikely Edits (MUE) and procedure-to-procedure (PTP) edits in its quarterly update to NCCI edit files, effective April 1.
A Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) study showed that insufficient documentation causes most improper payments for observation and inpatient care services, according to the January 2019 Medicare Quarterly Compliance Newsletter.
Thirty-eight hospitals filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on January 18, alleging that that HHS Secretary Alex Azar overstepped his authority when he finalized an OPPS policy that cuts Medicare payment rates to off-campus, provider-based departments (PBD).
