MGMA to CMS: Prohibit insurers from charging EFT fees
MGMA sent a letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure urging the Agency to use its authority under the Affordable Care Act to prohibit insurers and their payment processing vendors from imposing electronic funds transfer (EFT) fees on medical groups. A recent MGMA Stat poll indicated that 57% of medical groups report being charged fees by health insurers and payment processors to accept reimbursement through EFT direct deposit. This is a dramatic increase from the 26% who reported paying these fees only a year ago. The poll also showed that practices are typically charged 2-3% of the reimbursement amount with no clear value-add. MGMA believes EFT fees are prohibited under current law and will continue to strongly advocate against such predatory business tactics.
#MGMAAdvocacy opportunity: Urge Congress to prevent Medicare cuts in CY 2022!
With more than half of the congressional session behind us, now is the time to ask Congress to support physician practices by avoiding reimbursement cuts in CY 2022. In July, CMS released the proposed rule for the CY 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The proposed CY 2022 conversion factor (CF) is 3.75% lower than the current CF because the funds that Congress allocated to the fee schedule to mitigate the projected CY 2021 reimbursement cuts were only for CY 2021. To prevent cuts to Medicare reimbursement in CY 2022, Congress must act before the end of the year. Send a letter to your congressional representatives urging them to maintain the 3.75% increase to the conversion factor through at least CYs 2022 and 2023!
Don’t miss it: CMS and OIG join MGMA in fraud series
part 2
In the second installment of the “Protect your Practice” webinar series, MGMA Government Affairs invites you to register for the second installment of the member-exclusive "Protect your Practice" webinar series on Tuesday, Aug. 31 at 1pm ET. During this session, MGMA will be joined by two of our national partners, the CMS Center for Program Integrity and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG). Practice managers will be equipped with vital information necessary to avoid clinician-recruitment schemes from fraudsters, detect COVID-19-specific fraud and abuse, and will learn about the tools and programs the federal government uses to protect patients, medical practices, and federal healthcare programs.
