Skip to content
Sales: 888-357-3226

Medical Billers and Coders Logo
  • Our Specialties
      • We Excel In
      • Ambulance Transportation
      • ASC
      • Wound Care
      • DME
      • Oncology
      • Optometry
      • More Specialties »
      • We Dominate Over
      • Florida
      • Illinois
      • Ohio
      • Georgia
      • New York
      • Texas
      • New Jersey
      • We also Serve in »
      • Our Reach
      • Atlanta
      • Chicago
      • Dallas
      • Houston
      • Jacksonville
      • New York
      • Philadelphia
      • We also Serve in »
  • Services
      • Medical Billing
      • Charge Entry
      • Payment Posting
      • Account Receivable
      • Denial Management & Appeals
      • RCM Services
      • Medical Coding
      • Physician Credentialing
      • Physician Group
      • Outsourced Services
  • Resource Center
      • Best Billing Practices
      • Specialty Billing Guideline
      • Press Release
      • Newsletter
      • Billing Insight
      • Billing and Coding Updates
      • Billers and Coders Digest
      • Something of Interest
      • Infographics
      • Quiz
      • Glossary
      • Case Study
      • In house Blogs
      • Medical Billing Blog
      • DME Billing Blog
      • Pharmacy Billing Blog
  • Articles / Blogs
    • Articles
    • MBC Blog
    • DME Blog
    • Pharmacy Blog
  • Company
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Careers
Leading Medical Billing Services
  • Contact
  • Sample Page
  • Subscribe
  • UnSubscribe

USA – medical billers and coders

Helping Physician Groups to Stay Profitable

With Transparent RCM Services

Contact us today!

Don’t let your accounts receivables

Stress you?


Contact our Account Receivables Specialist today!

Contact Now

$ can come consistently

MBC is the solution

Request a Quote

  1. Home
  2. Medical Billing Services
  3. AHA wants improvements for Accelerated Medicare Payments

AHA wants improvements for Accelerated Medicare Payments

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is calling on CMS to re-evaluate payment options for hospitals that accepted accelerated Medicare payments at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The hospital group requested CMS Administrator Seema Verma to allow all hospitals to elect to receive periodic interim payments (PIP) or accelerated payments, per initial CMS communications about the COVID-19 support option.

Thomas P. Nickels, AHA’s executive vice president, told CMS Administrator Seema Verma in an Aug. 3rd letter: “For the past four months, PIP hospitals have had the expectation – communicated by CMS – that their accelerated payment repayment would occur at final cost settlement, which generally would be many months from now.”

PIP hospitals receive Medicare reimbursement biweekly

Based on the facility’s estimate of Medicare payments for the current cost reporting period, PIP hospitals are receiving Medicare reimbursement biweekly.

CMS expanded eligibility for accelerated Medicare payments to a broader set of hospitals, health professionals, and suppliers during the COVID-19 public health emergency to help financial losses.

According to AHA, CMS indicated during a call with hospitals in April that PIP hospitals would get the accelerated Medicare payments in addition to their periodic payments and the reconciliation process for the accelerated payments would occur at the final cost report process for the first cost reporting after the repayment period.

The accelerated payment fact sheet written by CMS stated, “For the small subset of Part A providers who receive Period Interim Payment (PIP), the accelerated payment reconciliation process will happen at the final cost report process (180 days after the fiscal year closes).”

CMS has directed Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to implement the same repayment process for PIP hospitals as non-PIP hospitals, meaning PIP hospitals would have their periodic payments held back until the accelerated Medicare payments were repaid, recently communicated by MACs to AHA hospitals.

Thomas P. Nickels, AHA’s executive vice president wrote, “The result is that PIP hospitals will go several months without any Medicare inpatient reimbursement, which is contrary to the entire purpose of the PIP program – to provide hospitals with a steady and predictable revenue stream. Moreover, hospital inpatient and outpatient volumes are down nearly 20% and 35%, respectively, from 2019, and most do not expect volume to return to baseline levels in 2020.”

The AHA estimates an additional $120.5 billion in total financial losses from July 2020 through December 2020 should hospitals and health systems reach baseline patient volumes by July 2021, or an average of $20.1 billion per month. These estimates are in addition to the $202.6 billion in losses the AHA estimated between March 2020 and June 2020 bringing the total projected losses to hospitals and health systems in 2020 to at least $323.1 billion.

The AHA is advocating for more flexible repayment options, the group is also urging CMS to consider full forgiveness of accelerated payments for all hospitals.

Additionally, Nickels wrote in the letter: “Providers will continue to face historic challenges throughout this extended public health emergency and beyond, as we expect the immense financial strain facing hospitals and health systems due to COVID-19 will continue through at least the end of 2020. Forgiving hospitals’ accelerated payments is necessary for providers to recover and rebuild while delivering the care that patients and communities are depending on.”

About Medical Billers and Coders (MBC):

We at Medical Billers and Coders (MBC) catering to more than 40 specialties, we are proficient in handling services that range from revenue cycle management to ICD-10 testing solutions. The main goal of our organization is to assist physicians in looking for billers and coders.

Posted by Medical Billers and Coders August 18, 2020August 18, 2020Medical Billing Services, Revenue Cycle Management (RCM)

Post navigation

Previous: Are You Ready to Send Consolidated Statements?
Next: HRSA Uninsured COVID-19 Program: How to Verify Patient Eligibility?

Search Our Blog Posts

Get a Quote

Are you looking for more than one billing quotes?

Categories

  • Categories
    • Accounts Receivables
    • Ambulance Billing Services
    • Ambulance Transportation Billing Services
    • Ambulatory Surgical Centers
    • Behavioral Health Billing
    • Cardiology Billing Services
    • Chiropractic Billing Services
    • Claims Denials
    • Credentialing Services
    • Dental Billing Services
    • Dermatology Billing Services
    • DME Billing Services
    • EMR / EHR / Health IT
    • EMS Billing Services
    • ENT Billing Services
    • Family Practice Billing Services
    • Gastroenterology Billing Services
    • General Surgery Billing Services
    • Geriatrics Billing Services
    • Health Insurance
    • Healthcare Reforms
    • HIPAA / ACA / ACO
    • Hospitalist Billing
    • Infographics
    • Insurance / Payer
    • Internal Medicine Billing Services
    • Medical Billing Services
    • Medical Coding
    • Mental Health Billing Services
    • Neurology Billing Services
    • OB Gyn Billing Services
    • Occupational Therapy
    • Oncology Billing Services
    • Optometry Billing Services
    • Orthopedics billing services
    • Otolaryngology Billing Services
    • Pain Management Billing Services
    • Pathology Billing Services
    • Payment Models
    • Pharmacy Billing Services
    • Physicians/ Doctors
    • Plastic Surgery Billing Services
    • Podiatry Billing Services
    • Practice Administration
    • Practice Management
    • Primary Health Care
    • Radiology Billing Services
    • Revenue Cycle Management (RCM)
    • Skilled Nursing Facilities Billing Services
    • Specialty
    • Uncategorized
    • Urology Billing Services
    • Wound Care Billing Services
  • Recent Posts

    • Understanding CT Scan Coding Guidelines
    • Understanding Claim Denials in Plastic Surgery
    • MBC: Leading Oncology Medical Billing Company
    • Avoiding Common Mistakes in Cardiology Coding
    • Understanding Internal Medicine Coding Challenges

    Catering to more than 40 specialties, Medical Billers and Coders (MBC) is proficient in handling services that range from revenue cycle management to ICD-10 testing solutions. The main goal of our organization is to assist physicians looking for billers and coders, at the same time help billing specialists looking for jobs, reach the right place.

    Connect with us

    info@medicalbillersandcoders.com

    Company

    • About Us
    • We Excel In
    • We Dominate Over
    • Testimonials
    • FAQ
    • Privacy Policy
    • Healthcare Analytics

    Services

    • Physicians
    • RCM Services
    • Transcription
    • Consultancy
    • Medical Coding
    • Hospital Billing
    • Medical Billing Outsourcing

    Resources

    • Best Billing Practices
    • Articles
    • Press Release
    • Case Study
    • Billing Guidelines
    • Medical Billing Quiz
    • Billing Bytes

    HIPAA

    ICD-10

    • ICD-10 Services
    • ICD-9 to ICD-10
    • ICD-10-E-book

    Refer a Friend

    HTML Sitemap

    Copyright © 2023 Medical Billers and Coders All Rights Reserved.

    REQUEST A CALL BACK

    Are you looking for more than one billing quotes?