CMS Requires Positive COVID-19 Test Results for 20% Medicare Add-on Payment

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) started rolling out post-payment audits again, as of Aug. 3, but now – after finding inconsistencies in the accuracy of some COVID-19 tests, and considering the fact that CMS has been paying an additional 20 percent to providers and facilities “treating patients with COVID or testing for COVID” – the agency has enacted a new mandate to qualify for the increased reimbursement. 

During the next live edition of Talk Ten Tuesdays, Terry Fletcher, a nationally recognized professional coder and auditor, reports on the controversy surrounding our lead story.

The podcast also features these other segments:

• RegWatch: Stanley Nachimson, former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) career professional-turned-well-known healthcare IT authority, reports on the latest regulatory news coming out of Washington, D.C.
  
  
• Tuesday Focus: 2021 E&M Guideline Changes: Grant Huang,  a consultant and auditor for DoctorsManagement, will filling in for Shannon DeConda in her ongoing series about the significant changes in the 2021 E&M guidelines.
  
  
• News Desk: Timothy Powell, compliance expert and ICD10monitor national correspondent, anchors the Talk Ten Tuesdays News Desk.
  
  
• The Coding Report: Cari Greenwood, an independent coding consultant, reports on a current healthcare coding issue that has national importance. 
  
  
• TalkBack: Erica Remer, MD, founder and president of Erica Remer, MD, Inc. and Talk Ten Tuesdays co-host, reports on another thought-provoking topic that has captured her attention.