Medicare pay cut averted; Congress OKs two-month patch

Physicians got a brief reprieve from a 27 percent Medicare pay cut Friday when the U.S. House of Representatives reached agreement with the Senate on a two-month extension of important policies that expire on Jan. 1.

The U.S. Senate last week voted to extend current Medicare payment rates for two months. After first balking at the two-month extension earlier in the week, the House reached an agreement Friday with the Senate to extend the payment rates, as well as the 2 percentage point Social Security tax cut and to extend unemployment benefits. A House-Senate conference committee will convene in January to work on a longer-term agreement.[MORE]

Endo Pharmaceuticals supports AUACodingToday

The AUA and PRS Network would like to thank Endo Pharmaceuticals for supporting the AUACodingToday resource site, a valued educational member benefit made available free to all AUA members.

Thanks to Abbott Laboratories

Abbott Laboratories continues their support for AUACodingToday, recognizing the ever increasing need for practice efficiency resources.

The Reimbursement and Regulation Department tracks key regulatory developments that affect urology and organized medicine and ensures that we provide convincing and well-supported comments to those federal agencies responsible for issuing and implementing the regulations in question. Additionally, we monitor, research and address reimbursement policies and challenges from public and private payors; our private insurer outreach initiative, where AUA physician leadership and professional staff meet with the national medical directors and senior leadership of private insurance companies, ensures that there is an effective dialogue to identify and resolve problems proactively on behalf of our members. The department also has primary responsibility for the creation of new CPT codes and modification of existing ones through its work on American Medical Association (AMA) CPT Editorial Panel sponsored national committees and reviews valuations for new or existing CPT codes through the AMA/Specialty Socity Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) in which both seasoned volunteer urologists and experienced AUA staff participate.

The Department works with two volunteer groups: the Coding and Reimbursement Committee (CRC) and the National Insurer Advisory (NIA) Workgroup. The CRC serves as urology's representative in the area of coding and terminology development. They seek new and updated codes to ensure accurate identification of urologic diseases and procedures. Additionally, selected committee members represent the AUA before the AMA CPT Editorial Panel and the RUC. The NIA Workgroup (formerly known as the National Carrier Advisory Workgroup) focuses on Medicare and private insurance issues. The Workgroup, composed of representatives appointed by the appropriate Medicare contractor/carrier through recommendations of the state urology society, identifies problems encountered across the United States with these carriers and works with AUA staff to correct any issues associated with coverage determinations or other policy problems.

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