Information blocking requirements now in effect
Beginning April 5, health care providers (including allergy practices) and electronic health record (EHR) vendors must comply with the Office of the National C…
Allergy practice pleads guilty
A private, solo practitioner allergy practice recently pleaded guilty to criminal charges and agreed to pay the government over $2 million in civil penalties f…
New rules for emotional support animals
Since January, airlines are no longer required to transport emotional support animals – a change in policy that will likely reduce the overall number of potent…
New OIT Coding Recommendations
The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology and the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology provide this guidance on coding for FDA appro…
AAP payments may begin in April
Early in the pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) offered Medicare providers loans, based on past Medicare billing, to help strugglin…
The Medicare 2% Sequester
On March 10, Congress passed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP) (summary of ARP) into law. Absent new action by Congress, the ARP will trigger a 4% r…
Help Get FASTER Act passed to benefit those with food allergies
College members have an opportunity to support legislation that would benefit those living with food allergies and related disorders.The "Food Allergy Safety, …
Summary of the American Rescue Plan
Last week, President Biden signed the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan (ARP), which provides new COVID-19 relief as well as establishes other policies. The D…
Relief from MIPS penalties
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it will exempt MIPS-eligible clinicians (EC) from up to a …
Can mid-level practitioners provide skin testing?
Many allergists are assisted by nurse practitioners (NPs) and/or physician assistants (PAs) in providing care in the office. The Advocacy Council frequently re…
Join College in supporting Medicare payment sequester moratorium
The College’s Advocacy Council recently joined the AMA and other medical specialty organizations in encouraging Congress to support legislation that would cont…
ACAAI scores on surprise billing
After a two-year stalemate, Congress passed bipartisan legislation to protect patients from unexpected out-of-network (OON) “surprise” medical bills as part of…
Telehealth continues to be covered
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year and the government declared a public health emergency (PHE), Medicare coverage of services provided via telehealth wer…
How will federal laws affect your compensation?
In a Final Rule issued last fall, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) added seven new safe harbors to the Medic…
HHS issues final rule on anti-kickback statute
In a Final Rule issued November 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) added seven new safe harbors…
2021 E/M coding and documentation rules
New rules for reporting outpatient office evaluation and management (E/M) services took effect Jan. 1. The coding and documentation revisions, adopted by the …
Good news for allergist payment
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revised the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) rates and conversion factor (CF) following changes…
What to do if you’ve been audited
Many payers have policies against so-called “pharmaceutical wastage,” which require providers to report -- and in some cases, minimize -- the amount of biologi…
Dr. Imbeau to chair AMPAC
Stephen A. Imbeau, MD, FACAAI, former chair of the College’s Advocacy Council, was recently appointed as chair of the American Medical Association’s Political …
Oppose the No Surprises Act
Congressional committees released a new bipartisan, bicameral proposal – the No Surprises Act – to address surprise medical billing before the 116th Congress …
