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O&P News

ACTION NEEDED TO SAVE O&P FEES
On Monday, deliberations on the 2008 Medicare Bill and DME competitive bidding program hit a major delay at crucial and risky juncture. The Baucus Bill, S. 3101, omits the DME fix, but the prospect is looming that a revision could impact O&P with the inclusion of a potential multi-year fee schedule reduction across DMEPOS.

A grand push is on in Congress to crank out a 2008 Medicare law.  The immediate stimulus is that if Congress does not act by June 30, Medicare payments to all of the nation's physicians will automatically be cut by a little over 10 percent as of July 1. The House is standing by the CHAMP bill they passed last year, waiting for some action by the Senate. In the Senate, however, there is a drumbeat building for inclusion of the DME competitive bidding delay in a second version of the Baucus bill that is being drafted to be unveiled later this week.  This poses a huge potential threat to O&P, even though we are not presently included in the first rounds of competitive bidding.  On Monday, May 5, AOPA’s executive director Tom Fise joined with representatives of other organizations in the O&P Alliance in a meeting with CMS officials to discuss quality standards and fraud and abuse issues. The genesis of the meeting dated back to the AOPA Policy Forum in Washington D.C., March 10 – 11, where CMS acting administrator Kerry Weems informed attendees that the agency intends to publish a final quality standards regulation by the end of the year and plans to initiate implementation of BIPA (the Benefits Improvement & Protection Act) in early 2009.

Read more about this issue here.

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June 10, 2008

Register Now for June 18 Audio Conference: Stark/Anti-Kickback Laws
Do you have questions about consignment closets?  Do you offer gifts to patients and/or referral sources?  Are you worried about physicians becoming your competitors?  If the answer to any of these questions is “yes,” then you must participate in the AOPA Medicare Audio Conference on June 18, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. (EST).
June 10, 2008

Progress on Plans for O&P Future
Forty-nine issues gleaned from the AOPA Member Survey were thoroughly discussed May 28 at a full day meeting in Chicago of the nine person workgroup. The workgroup was tasked with distilling the 139 page survey tabulation into a series of action steps that can be reviewed by the AOPA Board and presented to the membership at the AOPA National Assembly.  AOPA president, Brad Ruhl, will lead the panel of workgroup members who will present the findings of the survey.
June 10, 2008


AOPA and Chase: If You’re Paying More Than 1.9%, You’re Paying Too Much

AOPA members should check their current credit card processing rate to determine whether it makes sense to switch to the AOPA Chase Paymentech program with processing fees as low as 1.9%. Savings can amount to “found” dollars for the bottom line.  As an example, if your current rate is 2.5% or more and you process $500,000 annually in credit card payments – the .6% savings can mean another $3,000 to the bottom line. That’s like a patient care facility getting a 200% return on their annual dues investment in AOPA. Or it’s the same as getting two years of AOPA membership free!
June 10, 2008

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