Current News

News

02/07/19

Check Your 2019 MIPS Eligibility

You can now check the Quality Payment Program (QPP) Participation Status Tool to view your eligibility status for the 2019 performance period under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Enter your National Provider Identifier (NPI), to find out if you need to participate in MIPS during the 2019 performance year. To check to see if you need to participate in MIPS for the 2019 Performance Year, click HERE.

Read More
02/06/19

WPS Upcoming Webinars

Wisconsin Physician Services will be providing 8 webinars focused on the Skilled Nursing Facility setting. The webinar series begins on April 11, 2019 and concludes on November 14, 2019. To view each webinar topic, description, objectives and to register, click HERE.

Read More
02/04/19

New Medicare Cards

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has finished the mailing of new Medicare cards to 61 million people with Medicare prior to the original deadline of April 2019. But what are these new Medicare cards and how do they impact providers of therapy services? The Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 required CMS to remove social security numbers from all Medicare cards and replace them with a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI). The MBI is 11 characters in length and are made up of only numbers and upper case letters. The MBI doesn’t use any special characters (e.g.

Read More
01/29/19

New App Displays What Original Medicare Covers

On January 28, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched a new app that gives consumers a modernized Medicare experience with direct access on a mobile device to some of the most-used content on Medicare.gov. The What’s Covered app is available for free in both Google Play and the Apple App Store. The app is available in Google Play at:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.medicare.coverage, and is available in the Apple App Store at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/whats-covered/id1444143600?mt=8. Click HERE to read the Press Release from CMS and what information is available on the app.

Read More
01/28/19

Offering Free Transportation to Your Therapy Patients

I have received several questions from therapists in private practice as well as therapists that practice in a hospital setting regarding providing free transportation to Medicare beneficiaries so they can receive outpatient therapy services at their private practice or hospital. They want to know is this legal or would this free transportation service violate the anti-kickback statute? The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has released several advisory opinions on this topic. If this is a service you are considering providing or are already providing to your Medicare beneficiaries, I would strongly encourage you to read these opinions as well

Read More
01/28/19

CMS Updates Manuals to Reflect End of FLR

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has updated CMS Publication 100-02, Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 15 – Covered Medical and Other Health Services as well as CMS Publication 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 5 – Part B Outpatient Rehabilitation and CORF/OPT Services to reflect recent changes in outpatient therapy service billing instructions and payment policies related to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and the calendar year 2019 Medicare physician fee schedule final rule. To access the changes, log in to your Gold Member account and click

Read More
01/24/19

Progress Reports Since FLR Has Ended

Since functional limitation reporting (FLR) (G-codes) is no longer required in 2019 for traditional Medicare Part B therapy patients, does this mean Progress Reports are also no longer required every 10 visits? The answer is

Read More
01/21/19

Auto Accident and Billing Medicare

I recently had a question submitted to me by one of my Gold Members. Here is the situation and question. We had a patient who had an auto insurance that was in litigation that settled; however, we did not even get 50 percent of what we charged. Are we allowed to bill the secondary for the remainder for payment? The secondary insurance is Medicare. Here is information I found that may assist you in the future if you encounter this situation. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services,

Read More