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- The CAP, AMA Urge CMS to Protect Reimbursement Without Added Fees
The CAP and the American Medical Association (AMA) urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) National Standards Group to enforce the right of physicians to receive electronic payments without any service fees. Physicians increasingly report that they incur a mandatory percentage-based fee for the receipt of electronic payments from health plan for payment made through automated Clearing House electronic funds transfer (EFT). These fees especially hurt small practices and laboratories. The CAP advocates to ensure fair reimbursement and reduce administrative reporting burdens for all pathologists.
In an October 14 letter to the CMS, the CAP, the AMA, and over 90 medical professional and state medical societies asked the CMS to “issue guidance that affirms physicians’ right to choose and receive basic EFT payments without paying for additional services and undertaking the associated enforcement activities.” The groups also asked the CMS to evaluate the current policy and its unfair business practices.
“These coercive EFT fee-based programs can result in downstream negative consequences for patient care. Physician practices that lose up to five percent of claims payments due to EFT fees are less able to invest in the additional staff, medical equipment, data analytics, and information technology that could improve care access and quality. In addition, physicians and their staff report significant administrative burdens when they attempt to disenroll in EFT fee-based programs,” the groups stated in the letter.
The group also asked the CMS to protect physician’s reimbursement to act and without percentage-based fees.