With ICD-10 less than 30 days away, now is the time to get ready. You can make sure your practice is prepared by following the ABCs of ICD-10:

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With ICD-10 just 30 days away, now is the time to get ready. You can make sure your practice is prepared by following the ABCs of ICD-10:

The New York State Chiropractic Association (NYSCA) and the New York Chiropractic Council (the Council) are pleased to report further progress has been made to secure a fair and reasonable chiropractic fee schedule. On July 2, the NYS Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) Medical Director Dr. Elaine Sobol-Berger informed us via letter that some of our recommendations to the WCB were used to modify the proposed Medical Fee Schedule (MFS) Discussion Document. While the WCB did not adopt all of our recommendations, this is a positive step, and we will continue to work with the WCB on this matter.

The NYSCA WC committee would like you to be aware of upcoming changes proposed by the New York State Insurance Fund (NYSIF). Please note this will not impact claim submission, but will change the way providers receive information about the status of their claim.

With less than three months remaining until the nation switches from ICD-9 to ICD-10 coding for medical diagnoses and inpatient hospital procedures, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) are announcing efforts to continue to help physicians get ready ahead of the October 1 deadline. In response to requests from the provider community, CMS is releasing additional guidance that will allow for flexibility in the claims auditing and quality reporting process as the medical community gains experience using the new ICD- 10 code set. For more details, please see the joint announcement on the CMS ICD-10 website.

Get Ready Now with the New CMS Quick Start Guide!

In lieu of holding Summer District Dialogue sessions, the BPR team is going on the road to update interested stakeholders on the status of the BPR project. Roadshow sessions will be held in each District Office beginning in mid-June and ending the first week of July.

On May 4, in a report issued by the New York State Assembly Labor and Insurance Committees regarding the proposed Workers Compensation fee schedule changes, the Assembly Majority clearly recommended that the new fee schedule not be adopted, as requested by both NYSCA and the Council. In support of their decision to oppose the new fee schedule, the report included specific references to testimony jointly offered by the NYSCA and the Council, who testified at a hearing in the fall, along with other specialty groups. The summary of our joint testimony is on pages 16-17 of the report.  Both Jason Brown, DC, of the NYSCA and Bryan Ludwig, DC, of the Council and testified and raised numerous concerns about the new fee schedule, in particular its proposed linkage to the Medicare fee schedule. The report also specifically cited the testimony of Dr. Brown, detailing many of his concerns and objections. Here is a link to the full report: http://assembly.state.ny.us/comm/Labor/20150504/index.pdf. This is very good news for the profession!

On April 1, 2015, the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) was updated using the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) methodology as required by current law. The SGR methodology required a 21% decrease in all MPFS payments beginning April 1, 2015. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took steps to limit the impact on Medicare providers and beneficiaries by holding claims paid under the MPFS with dates of service on and after April 1, 2015. In the absence of additional legislation to avert the negative update, CMS must update payment systems to comply with the law, and implement the negative update.

Chiropractic documentation education, new quality-reporting incentives included in measure

The negative 21% payment rate adjustment under current law for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule is scheduled to take effect on April 1, 2015.  CMS is taking steps to limit the impact on Medicare providers and beneficiaries by holding claims for a short period of time beginning on April 1st.  Holding claims for a short period of time allows CMS to implement any subsequent Congressional action while minimizing claims reprocessing and disruption of physician cash flow in the event of legislation addressing the 21% payment reduction.  Under current law, electronic claims are not paid sooner than 14 calendar days (29 days for paper claims) after the date of receipt. As we stated in our recent email to physicians, CMS will provide more information about next steps by April 11, 2015.

CMS to hold claims until April to avert reimbursement cuts