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This biweekly newsletter provides concise, independent coverage and analysis of fast-breaking lab, pathology, blood banking, imaging and diagnostic radiology news from the Nation's Capital.
You'll find out about:
- Medicare payment and policy directives Billing guidelines and coding changes for diagnostic facilities
- CLIA & MQSA regulatory mandates, changes and interpretations
- Congressional actions & legislative initiatives
- Federal compliance requirements
- OIG anti-fraud initiatives
- Stark self-referral prohibitions
Plus you will get other legal news regarding FDA oversight of in vitro diagnostics, blood banks, and radiological devices OSHA, NRC, and state safety standards.
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 | NIR May 7, 2007 (full PDF issue) |
| Ball is in the Senate’s court on genetic information safeguards
Medicare ‘fast-tracks’ NPI use in fee-for-service, see Focus
Funding warning thrusts Medicare spending into 2008 campaign spotlight
CAP, ACLA urge delay on proposed single ABN
New HHS Web site discloses more on HIPAA privacy rules, enforcement
Breast, cervical cancer screening bill signed into law
Boost your molecular momentum, get sure you’re paid correctly: G-2 conference details
Full Article |
| AMA to Congress: ‘Avoid Physician Fee Meltdown’ |
| Facing a scheduled 10% cut in Medicare fees next year, pathologists and other medical specialties are giving top priority this year to a legislative overhaul of the current fee update system.
Full Article |
| Medicare Contingency Plan Aims for NPI ‘Early Adoption’ |
| You may not have as much time as you think to start using National Provider Identifiers (NPIs) on Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) claims to avoid having them rejected. That’s the rub in the contingency plan that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has adopted for FFS providers that cannot meet the May 23, 2007 deadline for NPI compliance.
Full Article |
| Protecting Genetic Information: Ball Is in the Senate’s Court |
| Now that the House has passed its bill prohibiting health insurers and employers from discriminating against individuals based on their genetic information or test results, it’s up to the Senate leadership to schedule floor action on a similar bill (S. 358) that the HELP Committee reported out on April 10.
Full Article |
| Medicare Fee-for-Service Takes Fast Track on NPI Transition |
| The 23rd of this month remains the final deadline for HIPAA-covered entities (other than small health plans) to comply with National Provider Identifier (NPI) requirements, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services emphasizes.
Full Article |
| CAP, ACLA Urge Delay on Proposed ABN Change |
| The College of American Pathologists and the American Clinical Laboratory Association are calling on Medicare to hold off on combining the two currently approved Advance Beneficiary Notices (ABNs) into a single all-purpose format and to take more time to consider issues they have raised in formal comments.
Full Article |
| Warning Thrusts Medicare Into Campaign 2008 Spotlight |
| The latest report by the Medicare trustees on the program’s failing financial health has triggered a controversial process that is sure to provoke sharp partisan debate in Congress next year over benefit cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both—propelling Medicare spending and provider issues into the 2008 election spotlight.
Full Article |
| HHS Unveils Revamped Web Site on Privacy Rules, Enforcement |
| When periodically updating compliance programs and how complaints are handled, clinical laboratories and other healthcare providers have a new resource to check to see if they are in synch with federal requirements protecting the privacy of personal health information. The privacy rules, required by HIPAA (the Health Insurance Portability & Accountability Act of 1996), took effect in April 2003.
Full Article |
| Breast, Cervical Cancer Screening Bill Becomes Law |
| President George W. Bush has signed into law legislation that reauthorizes the early detection program to provide breast and cervical cancer screening to low-income, uninsured, and underserved women. In an April 20 signing ceremony at the White House, Mr. Bush noted that the program, which is run by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, is expected to provide more than 700,000 screenings for eligible women in 2007.
Full Article |
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