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AACVPR REIMBURSEMENT UPDATE PLEASE CALL NOW – THE CLOCK IS TICKING Drum roll please…HR 552 and S.329 continue to grow in support, thanks to the great efforts of AACVPR Day on the Hill attendees and involved Affiliate members in their home state. The House bill now has 187co-sponsors and the Senate bill has 45 co-sponsors. Thirty-six of these congressional sponsors were secured in the weeks immediately following the event in Washington, DC! The Senate expects to complete their Medicare bill by May (less that 3 weeks from now), and this may very well be the last legislative opportunity during this Congress or, perhaps, next year. There will be a larger “package” that addresses some major issues such as a 10% physician pay cut due to take effect July 1, 2008. We are fairly confident that our provision will be included in that Senate bill. More importantly, the House will then create their version before the two sides come to consensus on one bill to send to the President. It is critical that HR 552 shows strong support via the actual number of co-sponsors if it is to remain an integral part of the package. This means our goal is to increase the House co-sponsors to 218 (a true majority) within the next 2-3 weeks (in other words, by the time the House Ways & Means Health subcommittee members begin their task). Now is the time to ask your patients to take action and use the AACVPR Capwiz link to click and email their request for support and click to call their representative (phone # to call and script are provided). Without a doubt, congressional members have been more likely to co-sponsor where patient letters were received. So far, four states have achieved 100% support for our bills: Arkansas, Connecticut, Maine, and North Dakota. A big congratulations and thank-you to those members! Here are the “top ten” states who have utilized AACVPR Capwiz to send their message:
The transition by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from Fiscal Intermediaries (FI) and Carriers to MACs is progressing. Two more MAC awards have been recently announced. The selection for the remaining MACs is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2008. AACVPR will continue to keep you informed as that information becomes available. It has been announced that MAC Jurisdiction 12 will be managed by Highmark. The MAC Jurisdiction 13 contract was given to National Government Services (NGS). Each of these contractors will gradually assume all Medicare claims processing for Part A (hospital) and Part B services (physician practices) over the next 4-8 months. Your Affiliate leaders are in the process of organizing a MAC Committee which will represent your program and cardiopulmonary rehabilitation issues pertaining to coverage and payment by your MAC. Committee members are posted on the AACVPR MAC Web site, along with any information that CMS has published pertaining to your specific MAC. The goal of the committee is to establish a strong relationship as the clinical expertise for CR and PR services and be in close communication with the MAC Medical Director. This will provide the opportunity for you to ask questions, get responses, and bring up issues in a timelier manner than was previously possible with the former system of many FIs and Carriers. For a map of the 15 jurisdictions and Named MACs to date, visit the AACVPR MAC Web site. As always, AACVPR will continue to keep you informed with the latest information related to reimbursement for Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation programs. This copywrited information is provided as a valuable member benefit to AACVPR members and cannot be forwarded, copied or reproduced without the expressed written permission of AACVPR. |
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