Medicare to cut checks, expect delays

July 16, 2008
Medicare to cut checks, expect delays

The good news for physicians and other providers paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule is that the previously planned 10.6% pay cut will not go into effect, thanks to a congressional vote yesterday.

While this is excellent news for physicians, there is also a little bad news as well which will affect cash flow in the month of July. Medicare payments have been on hold since July 1st, 2008 with no physicians being paid by CMMS during the time since. This has a profound impact on many practices cash flow, especially those with high volumes of Medicare patients.

PhyLogic has been submitting the claims without delay, and such claims have been placed “on hold” by Medicare contractors and intermediaries. In the days following the congressional vote, contractors are updating their fee schedules to reflect the new 0.5 percent update rates.

So when can medical practices expect to see their Medicare payments? Most government bulletins lead us to believe that payments will start to be made within the next 10 days. However, payments will be made on claims on a first in, first out rolling basis, meaning that it could possibly take well into August, 2008 before a normal revenue cycle can resume.

For more information contact PhyLogic Healthcare, or visit Medicare Part B News at www.partbnews.com.

July 16, 2008 Medicare to cut checks, expect delays

Company

July 16, 2008
Medicare to cut checks, expect delays