Changes in 2008 Medicare Payment
In December 2007, Congress passed the Medicare, Medicaid
and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (Act) to address funding cuts
to those programs. The Act provides for short-term changes
to a couple of key provisions found in the 2008 final Hospital
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS) regulation
and the final 2008 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS)
regulation.
Change in HOPPS Methodology for Therapeutic
Radiopharmaceuticals
The Act extends the 2007 HOPPS reimbursement methodology
(charges reduced to cost per the hospital’s cost to charge
ratio) to June 30, 2008 for therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals.
Change in MPFS Payment Rates
Per the MPFS, physicians would have received a –10.1%
update for their services paid in 2008. The Act provides for
a 0.5% increase in rates until June 30, 2008.
For more information on the legislation, please visit:
http://Thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/Thomas |