http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2 Information, Discussion, and Collaboration To Better Manage Medicare Businesses. Wed, 14 Jun 2006 13:30:02 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en By KEVIN FREKING THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON - To help Americans become smarter health care shoppers, Medicare this month started publishing a range of what it pays for 30 common procedures and report how frequently hospitals perform them. The release of the information fits with the Bush administration’s strategy of moving more people ... http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2/2006/06/14/medicare-billings-now-reported-on-federal-web-site/ Nearly 150 members of the House Democratic Caucus have sent a letter to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan urging him to take additional steps to enroll low-income beneficiaries in the Medicare prescription drug benefit, CQ HealthBeat reports. The letter asks CMS to take several steps, including working with the Social Security ... http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2/2006/05/30/medicare-house-democratic-caucus-asks-cms-to-help-low-income-medicare-beneficiaries-enroll-in-prescription-drug-benefit/ Since December of 2005 we have been holding weekly Part D Providers conference calls to address issues physicians and other health care providers were having with Part D. We have seen a gradual decline in the participation on those calls and this past week, we only had one question on ... http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2/2006/05/30/part-d-weely-calls-to-be-terminared/ New Jersey's two U.S. senators on Monday called for the federal government to extend the May 15 deadline for senior citizens to enroll in the new Medicare prescription drug program, commonly called "Part D." Sens. Frank R. Lautenberg and Robert Menendez, both Democrat, said many senior citizens remain confused about the ... http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2/2006/04/11/senators-extend-part-d-enrollment-deadline/ CMS has released the 2007 MA/MAPD Call letter.  Download it here. http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2/2006/04/05/2007-mamapd-call-letter/ CMS on Monday said that reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage plans in 2007 will increase by only about 1.1% on average, rather than 4% as scheduled, because of a technical adjustment of how physicians code beneficiaries for billing, CQ HealthBeat reports. According to CQ HealthBeat, past small increases in reimbursement ... http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2/2006/04/04/payment-increases-to-medicare-advantage-plans-lower/ The House Budget Committee on Wednesday voted 22-17 along party lines to approve a $2.8 trillion fiscal year 2007 budget resolution that does not call for mandatory spending reductions to Medicare or Medicaid, CQ Today reports. President Bush in his budget proposal last month outlined $65 billion in spending reductions ... http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2/2006/03/30/capitol-hill-watch-house-budget-committee-approves-fy-2007-budget-plan-without-medicare-medicaid-cuts/ CMS is expected to issue final 2007 Medicare Advantage (MA) payment rates April 3. But some established Medicare managed care organizations aren't holding their breath: They anticipate satisfactory reimbursement for next year's MA product lines.... Visit AISHealth to read the entire story. http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2/2006/03/29/health-plans-dont-fear-2007-medicare-advantage-rates-see-positive-long-term/ Last week CMS notified Medicare prescription drug plan sponsors of the process for reconciling plan enrollments to ensure that all beneficiaries who have elected to change plans are appropriately disenrolled from their initial plan by April 30, 2006. To ensure that all enrolled beneficiaries would have access ... http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2/2006/03/29/cms-takes-steps-to-clean-up-enrollment/ Today is the deadline for all PDPs, MA-PDs, Cost, and PACE 2007 applications. Details on the CMS website. http://dynamichealthsys.com/blog2/2006/03/20/deadline-pdps-ma-pds-cost-and-pace-2007-applications/