The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has instructed its contractors to hold claims containing services paid under the Medicare physician fee schedule for the first 10 business days of March.
The Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2010 provided a zero percent update to the 2010 MPFS effective for dates of service January 1, 2010, through February 28, 2010. Congress has not yet addressed the negative update that took effect March 1.
CMS said the holding of MPFS claims will only affect claims with dates of service March 1, 2010, and forward. The agency said the hold should have a minimum impact on provider cash flow because, under current law, clean electronic claims are not paid any sooner than 14 calendar days (29 for paper claims) after the date of receipt.