Novitas Solutions, Medicare Administrative Contractor for the states of Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington DC, held a teleconference on Physical and Occupational therapy billing for private practices on January 28, 2013 and for non-private practices on January 31, 2013. Novitas Solutions has published the handout on their website for providers to view. To access the handout

From The Center for Medicare Advocacy, Inc. The Center for Medicare Advocacy, along with its co-counsel Vermont Legal Aid are pleased that the Settlement in the Medicare Improvement Standard case, Jimmo v. Sebelius,was approved on January 24, 2013 during a scheduled fairness hearing, marking a critical step forward for thousands of beneficiaries nationwide. The proposed settlement agreement was filed in federal District Court on October 16, 2012. The plaintiffs joined with the named defendant, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, in asking the federal judge to approve the settlement of the case. With only one written comment received,

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will require providers to report patient functional status at certain intervals during their episode of treatment. This began on January 1, 2013 on a voluntary basis and will be mandated to be reported on claim forms and in the therapists documentation beginning on July 1, 2013 for all traditional Medicare patients. Plan on attending my webinar titled “2013 Medicare G Codes: Mandated Reporting of Patient Functional Status” to be held on April 24, 2013 from 1:00PM – 2:00PM EDT. For additional information and to register, click HERE.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has informed the American Physical Therapy Association and the American Hospital Association that critical access hospitals (CAHs) will not be under the therapy cap. However, therapy furnished in the outpatient department of a CAH will be applied to the therapy cap dollar threshold for all other outpatient therapy settings.