Newswise — ALEXANDRIA, VA – The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) recently submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on calendar year 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule payment and policy proposals. The proposals include an expansion of telehealth services to include annual wellness visits and some psychotherapy codes, which AMGA supports. CMS also finalized its proposal to reimburse separately for non-face-to-face chronic care management services furnished to patients with two or more chronic conditions, which AMGA also supports. The AMGA comment letter suggested, however, that the agency waive the beneficiary co-payment requirement and monitor the adequacy of the payment for these services, and that the final documentation requirements be streamlined to the extent possible.
Several modifications to the Medicare Shared Savings Program were proposed. AMGA’s comments provided some detailed recommendations on modifications to individual measures, in addition to supporting the continued alignment of reporting requirements across federal quality reporting programs.
The letter also expressed concern over the elimination of the global surgical codes, citing the potential for patients to skip post-operative visits that are medically necessary and contribute to the overall quality of care and avoidable complications.
After considering the responses it receives during the notice and comment period, the agency will publish a rule with final payment policies for calendar year 2015 early in November of this year.
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