Update on PHE Waivers for Telehealth
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared a 90-day public health emergency (PHE). The PHE has be…
College advocacy largely averts Medicare pay cut
As you know, many allergists were facing reductions in Medicare payments that could have been as high as 9.75% beginning Jan. 1 if Congress did not step in to …
De-identifying protected health information
Just a reminder to members about the rules for sharing protected health information (PHI) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)…
Open season for deciding Medicare participation
Every year, between mid-November and December 31, physicians have the opportunity to change their Medicare participation status for the following year. Physici…
Part II – Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Releases COVID-19 Vaccination Requirement for Certain Health Care Providers
On November 5, 2021, the Biden Administration published two rules outlining vaccination mandates affecting certain health care providers. The first rule, relea…
Our advocacy delivers
Our House of Delegates state delegate networks are working! Members of the College reached out to their state delegates for help when their claims for drug tes…
New Leadership in advocacy
There was a changing of the guard in advocacy during the College’s 2021 Annual Scientific Meeting. James M. Tracy, DO, FACAAI completed his term as chair of th…
New ICD-10 codes effective now
New ICD-10 codes are here, and the College’s Advocacy Council has the info you need! The 2022 ICD-10 codes became effective October 1, 2021, so all claims with…
Final 2022 Physician Fee Schedule
CMS released the final 2022 Medicare physician fee schedule rule on November 2, 2021. The new rates take effect on January 1, 2022. CMS estimated the policy ch…
Get your 2022 coding books at a discount
The Advocacy Council is excited to provide College members with special discounted pricing on OPTUM360 coding books. Purchase individual books at discounted pr…
The College’s House of Delegates continues its work
The College’s House of Delegates (HOD) has remained active during the 2021 third quarter. Check out our activities for the first and second quarters too.Our fi…
Backlog of Medicare appeals is down 80%
The Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS) recently reported that as of June 30, 2021, the backlog of Medicare appeals awaiting hearings before Adminis…
United class action settlement secures ERISA appeal rights
A recent class action settlement with UnitedHealth Group (United) secures rights under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) for out-of-n…
Will drug pricing reform affect your patients or practice?
Democrats in Congress are beginning to piece together their $3.5 trillion domestic reform bill called the Build Back Better (BBB) Act. Individual Congressional…
College advocacy makes a difference
The College’s advocacy work had an impact last week! On Wednesday, the Advocacy Council notified College members after becoming aware of a United HealthCare (U…
Do the surprise billing requirements apply to your practice?
Often, insurers do not cover the full cost of out-of-network services. In these situations, individuals are sometimes billed for the difference between the amo…
De-identify personal patient info
The College’s Advocacy Council encourages members to keep the council abreast of coverage and coding issues they experience with CMS and commercial payers. Whe…
HHS announces new relief funding for physicians
New Relief FundingLast Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it will make $25.5 billion in COVID-19 relief funding available to p…
CMS proposes to rescind ‘most favored nation’ pricing rule
On August 10th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule that would rescind a previously finalized regulation that implem…
More proposed changes to the QPP
Last July the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule recommending a number of change…
