AMA Summary of the 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule
On October 30, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the (1,358 page) 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule with comment period. CMS has issued a general fact sheet and a PQRS payment adjustment fact sheet. The AMA submitted detailed comments on the…
Consultant’s Report to the Legislative Health Care Reform Task Force
On Wednesday, October 7, AMS staff attended a meeting of the Legislative Health Care Reform Task Force to hear the report of the task force's consulting firm, The Stephen Group (TSG). As expected, the recommendations were focused on a replacement for the Private Option and reforming the current…
Patient-Centered Medical Home – Awards $5.3 Million in SHARED SAVINGS
2014 Shared Savings payments were awarded on October 1, 2015, to 19 of 37 PCMH entities. Payments ranged from $8K to $900K. In order to qualify for shared savings, the PCMH entities successfully completed practice support activities, reduced overall per beneficiary cost of care and met two-thirds of…
State receives three months to check wages of Medicaid recipients
by Andy Davis, Arkansas Online Arkansas has been granted a three-month extension, until Dec. 31, to finish checking the incomes of 600,000 Medicaid recipients who have been enrolled for at least a year, the director of the state Department of Human Services said recently. Human Services Director John…
Payment Recoupments for Private Option Patients
AMS has been notified of Blue Cross Blue Shield issuing letters of recoupment to several physicians involving Private Option patients. As you know, the Department of Human Services has been conducting a revalidation process for patients covered by the Private Option. For many patients, this process has been…
Medicaid limbo catches 31,400 in Arkansas
Article by By Andy Davis of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 9-10-2015 As of Aug. 2, as many as 31,400 Arkansans had been waiting longer than the maximum time allowed for word that their applications for Medicaid had been approved, according to numbers from the state Department of Human Services.…
Governor favors keeping Medicaid expansion, with changes
Governor Asa Hutchinson spoke recently to a joint meeting of the Health Reform Legislative Task Force and the Governor's Medicaid Advisory Council. He told the group that he favored keeping Medicaid expansion — but only if the federal government allowed changes that seemed intended to appeal to conservative…
Urgent Message Regarding Private Option Terminations
News reports have been following the situation of Private Option patients whose coverage has been or will be terminated due to lack of updated income information. There have been major problems in collecting the needed information, compounded by backlogs at local county offices, delayed mail, nondescript envelopes and…
Successful Physician Recruitment Vital To Allay Shortages in Arkansas
Arkansas Medical News July 2015 | Becky Gillette Physician shortages, particularly primary care shortages in rural areas of Arkansas far from metro areas, are acute and there is a looming imperative to address the issue not just for the present, but for the next ten to 20 years…
How the SGR repeal law ensures access to care for kids
The law that repealed the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula also included important provisions to help maintain the health and well-being of American children. The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) addresses a variety of issues, including extending funding to the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which provides low-cost…
CMS Agrees to ICD-10 Grace Period
CMS Agrees to ICD-10 Grace Period - The American Medical Association and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) jointly announced that an agreement has been reached on important elements of a "grace period" for the October 1, 2015, implementation of the ICD-10 diagnosis code set. In guidance…