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Medicaid Cut: Take Action
In 2013, the NC General Assembly included a 3% “withhold” for all Medicaid services with the intention of using that money as the foundation of a shared-savings program. After difficulty developing the program, the “withhold” was redrafted as a cut the following year with an effective date of January 1, 2014. That cut has not been implemented due to delays in NCTracks.
Doctors treating Medicaid patients now face a requirement to pay back 3% of everything they have been paid by Medicaid for the last 14 months. Every day that passes increases this financial and administrative burden. We know this money has already been spent on staff salaries, office overhead, and other basic requirements of serving the Medicaid population.
Call or email your representative/senator and tell them how much you will have to send back to Medicaid, and what it will mean to you and your practice. Tell your legislator that you cannot afford a massive recoupment at the same time as you are being asked to transform the entire way we deliver health care to the Medicaid population.
TAKE ACTION NOW ==>> and share this alert with your colleagues.
NOTE: Primary care physicians who received enhanced Medicaid payment rates in accordance with the ACA will not be subject to the 3% reduction in 2014. However, those same PCPs will be subject to the reduced rates and a recoupment of payments made for January and February 2015 dates of service.
Reprinted with permission from the North Carolina Medical Society.
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Luxurious Villa Accommodations Await You at the 2015 NCOGS Annual Meeting in Kiawah Island, April 17-19
Guest accommodations for the upcoming 2015 Annual Meeting, April 17-19, at the Kiawah Island Resort include spacious one-, two-, and three-bedroom villas, each with full kitchen and screened porch. But you must call 1-800-654-2924 to reserve your room by March 17!
Jointly presented by the NC Ob/Gyn Society and NC Section of ACOG, this year's meeting schedule is packed full with 12 hours of CME content designed for practicing and academic obstetric and gynecological physicians, PAs and NPs, residents, and medical students.
Matthew Hanley, MD, MBA, chief medical officer at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte, will give the Presidential Address, “Quality and Safety in the Disruptive Landscape of Healthcare Reform – A Brave New World." John Jennings, MD, ACOG President, will give a presentation that is of particular interest to NC ob/gyn physicians. His presentation, “Team Based Care / Health Care Delivery Models for the Future” is particularly relevant as our health system seeks out new ways to improve care and control cost.
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Ob/Gyn White Coat Wednesday, April 8. Will You Be There?
Add this event to your calendar and confirm your participation today.
North Carolina's Ob/Gyn physicians will convene in Raleigh on April 8, 2015, to discuss the specialty's position on the key health policy issues that legislators at the North Carolina General Assembly will vote on during this year's legislative session -- Medicaid reform, Medicaid payment cuts, funding for NC HIE, and more. Be a voice for your profession. Stand up for your future. Join us in Raleigh for this important advocacy event presented jointly by the NC Ob/Gyn Society and the North Carolina Medical Society.
Confirm you participation by email to Denna Suko, dsuko@ncmedsoc.org.
Share this promotional flyer with your women's health colleagues.
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The New BCBSNC “Estimate Health Care Costs” Website Provides Cost Estimates for Various Procedures. But How Accurate is the Data?
Please take a few minutes to browse this website and let us know about any inaccuracies and/or discrepancies. In an effort to improve health care costs transparency, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina (BCBSNC) recently launched a new online costs estimator. Health care consumers can use the site to compare the cost of various procedures within a geographic range simply by entering the type of treatment, their location and the search range in miles. We are looking into this issue at the request of physicians who are concerned with the accuracy of the data presented. Please email your feedback to the NCOGS at ncobgyn@ncmedsoc.org, or contact us at 919-833-3836.
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NC Doctors’ Day 2015
March 30, National Doctors’ Day, is a time to recognize and celebrate the hard work of physicians – all of the many medical specialties make up a remarkable community, coming together as one to help and heal patients. The observance dates back to 1933 and was officially established by Congress in 1990.
Now the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) is beginning a new, homegrown tradition with North Carolina Doctors’ Day. To mark the event, NCMS is sponsoring the 2015 North Carolina Doctor of the Year Award, allowing patients and the public to honor our state’s physicians who are:
- Passionate about keeping patients happy and healthy
- Experts in using life-changing treatments to give patients the best care
- And making a positive impact in the community
See more at: www.ncdoctorsday.org/
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CMS Announces Shortened 90-day Reporting Period for Meaningful Use Attestation
Some welcome news came out of CMS on Jan. 29, when the agency announced its plan to shorten the 2015 reporting period for Meaningful Use from one year to 90 days. Read more about what this means to you and your practice.
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The Sunshine Act Reporting Period Restart
The second year of data submission under the Sunshine Act began on Feb. 2, 2015. March 31, 2015, is the deadline for all applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations (GPOs) to submit corrected 2013 data (if needed) and submit their 2014 data to the Open Payments system. CMS released the first year of Open Payments data on Sept. 30, 2014. We encourage all physicians to review the site and to ensure the accuracy of payments associated with them.
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NCMS Responds To Proposed ACO Program Changes
The North Carolina Medical Society’s (NCMS) ACO Task Force finalized their comments on proposed changes to the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and submitted them to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) last month. Review the comments here.
Read more on the NCMS website.
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