Governor signs bill to extend CURES registration deadline for prescribers and dispensers In the final days of the legislative session, the California Medical Association (CMA) worked to pass Assembly Bill 679 to extend by six months the registration deadline for the Controlled Substance Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES). All individuals practicing in California who possess both a state regulatory board license authorized to prescribe, dispense, furnish or order controlled substances and a Drug Enforcement Administration Controlled Substance Registration Certificate (DEA Certificate) now have until July 1, 2016, to register to use CURES. In 2013, Senate Bill 809 required the California Department ... October 14, 2015 General Advocacy, CURES, Legislation, Prescription Drugs 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA publishes 2015 Legislative Wrap-Up It is difficult to imagine, but the 2015 legislative year was even more challenging than 2014, which included the diversion of staff resources to defeat the trial lawyers’ Proposition 46. From the hard-fought victory of Senate Bill 277—a bill that eliminates the personal belief exemption for schoolchildren—to the full court press in the final day of the legislative session to eliminate Assembly Bill 533—a bill that would have allowed a massive transfer of negotiating power to health plans at the expense of physicians—the California Medical Association (CMA) worked through ... October 14, 2015 General Immunization, Public Health, State Legislative Advocacy, State Legislation 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMA Capitol Insight: Oct. 13, 2015 CMA Capitol Insight is a biweekly column by veteran journalist Anthony York, reporting on the inner workings of the state Legislature. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Another one bites the dust The dust is just settling on hundreds of bills that were signed or vetoed by Governor Jerry Brown in the final flurry of activity for the 2015 legislative year. The session ended with some classic Jerry Brown signing messages and vetoes, and a strong implicit message for lawmakers in the year ahead. The governor’s most personal and talked about signing message accompanied his signature on ... October 14, 2015 General CMA Capitol Insight, Anthony York 0 0 Comment Read More »
New CMS rule changes meaningful use requirements The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) this week published new rules for the current and final stages of the electronic health record (EHR) incentive program. In publishing the rule, CMS acknowledged the difficulties physicians have experienced with meeting meaningful use requirements. The regulations announced are intended to ease the reporting burden for providers, support interoperability and improve patient outcomes. While the modified rules for years 2015-2017 are final, the stage 3 portion of the final rules were released with the opportunity for public comment, with the expectation that CMS ... October 14, 2015 Managed Care, Medi-Cal, Medicare EHR, Electronic Health Record, Meaningful Use, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
DHCS expands phone system for Medi-Cal recipients in wake of critical June audit report In June, the California State Auditor’s office released a report that found the Medi-Cal phone system for beneficiaries to be “severely deficient”; the auditor urged the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to make upgrades. The report found that DHCS had an average of 12,500 unanswered calls each month, between February 2014 and January 2015. Some months, the telephone system rejected as many as 45,000 calls. On September 30, 2015, DHCS announced that the ombudsman phone system has been expanded. The new system is expected to improve data collection, reduce ... October 14, 2015 Medi-Cal Medi-Cal, Audits 0 0 Comment Read More »
Coalition files initiative to raise state's tobacco tax Save Lives California—a broad coalition of physicians, patients, taxpayers and health care workers—has filed an initiative with the Attorney General’s office that would increase California’s tax on cigarettes by $2 per pack. Through the California Healthcare, Research and Prevention Tobacco Tax Act of 2016, the Save Lives California coalition aims to reduce the death toll—and associated health costs—caused by smoking, while generating some much-needed funds to help improve a variety of the state’s health care programs. “The initiative filed today will benefit Californians by reducing smoking rates and long-term health care ... October 14, 2015 General Political Advocacy, Public Health, Save Lives California, Tobacco, Tobacco Tax 0 0 Comment Read More »
Members of Congress urge HHS to pause meaningful use stage 3 The California Medical Association (CMA) and the American Medical Association (AMA) are urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to delay implementing stage 3 of the electronic health record (EHR) meaningful use program, as it is fraught with problems that need to be fixed before the next stage is implemented. CMA and AMA are also pushing for an automatic hardship exemption for physicians who were unable to successfully report in 2015. To that end, at AMA and CMA’s urging, Congress sent a bipartisan letter to HHS ... October 14, 2015 Managed Care, Medicare Electronic Health Record, Regulatory Advocacy, EHR, Meaningful Use 0 0 Comment Read More »
Medi-Cal to use ICD-10 crosswalk for claims payment The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) did not convert from ICD-9 to the ICD-10 coding system by the federally mandated October 1, 2015, conversion date. DHCS has received approval from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to take incoming claims coded with ICD-10 codes and convert them back to ICD-9 using a crosswalk in order to calculate payments. DHCS reports the crosswalk is a temporary workaround until the department is able to transition to a new claims processing system. The California Medical Association (CMA) has requested that DHCS ... October 14, 2015 Medi-Cal DHCS, ICD-10, Medi-Cal, Department of Health Care Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
Noridian Medicare announces web-based provider enrollment workshops Noridian, the Medicare Administrative Contractor for California, announced that it will offer web-based workshops focusing on provider enrollment. These webinars are intended for the Part B provider using the online Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS) to change enrollment information, track revalidation or set up a sole proprietorship. The Internet-based PECOS process can be used in lieu of the Medicare enrollment application (i.e., paper form CMS-855). The advantages of PECOS are: Faster than paper-based enrollment (45-day processing time in most cases, vs. 60 days for paper) ... October 14, 2015 Medicare Noridian, Medicare, PECOS, Provider Enrollment Chain and Ownership System 0 0 Comment Read More »
Like it or not, ICD-10 is here - what practices need to know After much debate and years of delay, the October 1, 2015, implementation date for ICD-10 has finally arrived. While concerns remain as to the preparedness of physician practices for this monumental transition, the full impact of the ICD-10 conversion will likely not be felt for several weeks or until the first payment remittances are received. CMA resources As the implementation unfolds, there likely will be unanticipated hurdles that need to be overcome. The California Medical Association (CMA) has a number of resources to help members prepare. CMA ICD-10 ... October 14, 2015 General, Managed Care ICD-10, Practice Resources 0 0 Comment Read More »
