ASC Coding, Billing & Collections

Researchers found Medicare pays nurse practitioners less than primary care physicians for claims, according to Medscape.

Anthem Blue Cross raised its monthly "New to Medicare" California discount from $15 monthly to $20 monthly.

California State Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones made his skepticism clear regarding Anthem’s proposed $54.2 billion acquisition of Cigna during a hearing on Tuesday, according to California Healthline.

Health insurance premiums are increasing by double digits for Massachusetts retailers and their workers, according to the Boston Globe.

San Francisco is holding a public hearing about the proposed Anthem-Cigna merger, according to SFGATE.

Vitals created SmartShopper to generate big savings by reimbursing patients for selecting less-costly treatment, according to NBC News.

The American Medical Association and 19 other healthcare and physician organizations are imploring CMS to modify its accountable care organization benchmarking methodology, according to Healthcare Finance News.

The American Hospital Association and American Health Information Management Association praised CMS and the CDC for releasing thousands of new ICD-10 and clinical modification codes early, according to FierceHealthIT.

A Freedom Partners report found health insurance premiums have increased faster than wages and inflation, according to Fox News.

Many than 60 cancer care groups sent letters to CMS protesting their proposed alternative payment method for Medicare B drugs, according to Medpage Today.