Does Aetna Medicare Advantage Follow Medicare’s “8-Minute Rule”?
A question I am often asked is do all Medicare Advantage (MA) plans follow traditional Medicare’s “8-minute rule”. The answer depends on the MA plan. Regarding Aetna MA and do they follow Medicare’s “8-minute rule”, the answer is
Aetna Implements Assistant Payment Reduction
Aetna has announced they will implement a payment reduction when outpatient therapy services are provided in whole or in part by a physical therapist assistant or an occupational therapy assistant. In this article, I will provide answers to the following questions:
TRICARE Changes are Coming
In this article, I will answer the following questions regarding TRICARE and upcoming changes:
What is CPT Code 0791T?
In this article, I will answer the following questions regarding CPT code 0791T:
Do Therapists Need to Co-Sign Notes Written By an Assistant?
A question I am often is asked is does the Medicare program require notes that are written by a physical therapist assistant (PTA) or an occupational therapy assistant (OTA) be cosigned by the supervising physical therapist (PT) or occupational therapist (OT), respectively. The answer is
Telehealth and Medicare in 2024
In this article, I will answer the following questions regarding providing outpatient physical, occupational, and speech therapy services via telehealth to traditional Medicare beneficiaries:
Medicare Payments for Outpatient Therapy in 2024
On November 2, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the calendar year (CY) 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule. This final rule does have regulatory and reimbursement implications for outpatient physical, occupational, and speech therapy provided in all outpatient therapy settings. In this article, I will provide my members with the estimated payment amounts for calendar year 2024 for the more common CPT codes billed in outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy compared to the 2023 payment rate for each CPT code. For my examples, I used the national payment averages for each CPT
Congress Extends Government Funding: January 2024
On January 18, 2024, Congress passed legislation extending government funding for 4 appropriation bills through March 1, 2024 and 8 appropriation bills through March 8, 2024. What is included in these 2 extensions that impact outpatient physical, occupational, and speech therapy? Read below for the answers.