Very Brief Blog: CMS Posts Final PFS, OPPS Annual Rules On Time

Despite not posting proposed annual policymaking for the physician fee schedule and hospital outpatient policy until late July, with comment periods running until ;ate September, CMS was able to release final rulemaking for CY2020 on November 1, giving the public the required 60 days notice before January 1.

CMS releases "inspection copies" or typescripts now; typeset Federal Register versions will appear around November 12 (OPPS) and November 15 (PFS).

• The consolidated Federal Register page for CMS announcements is here.
• Hospital Outpatient Policy page here.
• OPPS inspection copy typescript here. 1113pp.
• Federal Register Final Rule, Nov 12, 84FR61142, 351pp, here.
• OPPS Fact Sheet here.
• OPPS Addendum ZIP Files (Such as APC rates and CPT to APC assignments) here.
• Physician Fee Schedule Policy page here.
• PFS inspection copy typescript here.  2475pp.
• Federal Register Final Rule, Nov 15, 84FR62568, 996pp, here.
• PFS Fact Sheet here.  Quality Program Fact Sheet here (28pp PDF).
• A PFS press releases emphasizes reducing provider burden and improved quality metrics, here.
• PFS addendum ZIP files online here.
• Consolidated Discoveries Zip File
• To save hunting and pecking, I've putting the several rules, press releases, OPPS Zip Excel files into one 32 MB open access zip file in the cloud - here.

The PFS rules includes several new opioid abuse policy programs, one for general outpatient care, one for new bundled payments for Opioid Treatment Programs (OTP, aka methadone centers).   The latter program had threated to bundle all monthly urine tox lab fees into a single payment of a few dollars but CMS revised this to include more sophisticated testing.  See a public letter from Aegis, a leading tox lab, on the problems CMS would have caused with the original proposal (here).  The opioid test policies get their own press release here.

The OPPS rule, for the lab industry, was notable for proposed changes to the infamous and complex outpatient hospital Date of Service rule.  CMS is making no significant changes except to add an exclusion re blood banks at 42 CFR 414.510(b)(5) [typescript p. 1105].  (Text here).  Within the 1-14 day time period after an outpatient blood draw or biopsy, the lab that performs a human molecular test must bill for the test and the date of service is the date of test performance.  This means that whether a hospital or an outside reference lab performs, for example, an EGFR test on a lung biopsy, it must be billed as "date of performance" not "date of collection" which is the usual CMS DOS.  Said differently, if a hospital runs an EGFR gene test and a PSA test on the same vial, the EGFR test has "DOS" as date of performance, while the PSA test would have DOS as date of collection, except that in the OPPS setting the PSA but not the EGFR is bundled.  Note the same distinction of two DOS from one vial applies also for a physician origin blood sample handled and run the same day at Quest or Labcorp.  

CMS proposed to start a new Part A/B program for prior authorization with several surgeries that CMS feels are likely to be abused, like blepharoplasty.  Despite complaints, CMS is finalizing this.  I had my doubts that this was likely a program that CMS could implement well, due to the very minimalistic staffing of its MACs with RN or MD staff, but maybe it can if volumes are low.  Prior auth services will be CPT codes associaited with blepharoplaty, botulinum injections, panniculectomy, rhinoplasty, vein ablation.  Particular providers can be released from prior auth rules if they have high pass rates on submitted cases.  There were questions whether CMS had authority to institute Part A/B prior auth (see inspection copy, 992ff).  

Also in the OPPS system, CMS proposed cutting payments for the Heartflow advanced digital imaging service from $1500 to $750; the final price chosen will be around $900.  (Earlier article here). (Inspection copy, 255ff).   Flipping from the OPPS to the PFS rule, CMS proposes that some 3D imaging rendering CPT codes (e.g. 76376, 76377) may be misvalued (inspection copy, 174ff).

___

CMS floated a plan for hospitals to push standard charges for increased transparency; CMS deferred action on this topic (inspection copy, 926ff).  Much ink had been spilled since July on this topic; entry point here.

___

Related to the July announcement of multi-modal programs to improve CKD, ESRD, and renal transplant care, CMS proposed changes to the "expected donation rate" which is part of qualifying as a transplant procurement center; see OPPS inspection copy 927ff.