Articles related to MEDICARE

The agency stated that the JZ modifier (zero drug amount discarded/not administered to any patient) “will be required for all drugs separately payable under Part B that are designated as a single-dose container on the FDA-approved label or package insert for which there are no discarded amounts” in the 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), published Nov. 18, 2022. All suppliers and providers who purchase and bill Medicare Part B separately payment medications (single dose container/package) are subject to the JZ modifier. The modifier is eligible for billing as of January 1, and CMS has given providers until July 1 to adopt it.

It may not come as a surprise that there are so many doctors running for politics given that healthcare is a major legislative priority. According to the Patients Action Network of the American Medical Association, 19 doctors are currently serving in the 118th Congress. The task ahead for these 19 congressional representatives will be challenging. The AMA is concentrated on stopping Medicare payment cuts and implementing prior authorization reform among the myriad healthcare concerns facing the nation.

The $1.7 trillion spending bill signed by the president dramatically mitigates the expected cuts in Medicare payments. But any cut will still put an untenable strain on specialties like family medicine.

The new proposed rules are being cheered by caregivers and are in response to complaints from patients and providers that the PA process is often burdensome, disruptive to care, delaying care, costly, and a major source of frustration and burnout for providers.

Many prior studies associated enrollment in Medicare Advantage with lower use of health care services, greater performance of recommended preventive services, and higher scores for some measures of patient experience. This and other studies over the last decade suggest that “the association between Medicare Advantage and higher quality of care is modest at best.”

Medicare cuts will complicate the lives and precarious health circumstances of the millions of Americans who depend on it while undermining the quality of care for numerous diseases. As a result, the 4.5% reduction to therapy providers under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule in 2023 is causing great worry among seniors and healthcare professionals countrywide. The physical and occupational therapy professions would see reductions of about 9% by 2024 if this cut were to go into effect.