Physician Medicare fees will remain unchanged through March 31 based on the law just passed earlier this week**. CMS indicates the Medicare Participating Physician enrollment date of March 17 is unchanged. (3/5/10)

**On March 2, 2010, President Obama signed into law the “Temporary Extension Act of 2010.”  Among other things, this law extends through March 31, 2010, the zero percent update to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule that was in effect for claims with dates of service January 1, 2010, through February 28, 2010.  Consequently, effective immediately, claims with dates of service March 1 and later which were being held by Medicare contractors will be released for processing and payment.  Please keep in mind that the statutory payment floors still apply and, therefore, clean electronic claims cannot be paid before 14 calendar days after the date they are received by Medicare contractors (29 calendar days for clean paper claims).

Medicare Rates WILL be Cut Unless a minor bipartisan miracle happens in Congress over the next few days, physicians will go over the cliff on Monday. That’s when a scheduled 21.2% reduction in Medicare reimbursement takes effect. Leaders of organized medicine call this reduction "the cliff" because, in their view, many physicians will not be able to afford to see new Medicare patients, or even stay in the federal program, or even stay in practice if their Medicare pay drops by more than one fifth. They also call it a cliff for seniors who may not be able to find a physician willing to treat them. (2/26/10 5:25pm CST)

Metro Med has contacted the AMA about a SGR fix.  The SGR provision was removed from the recently passed Senate jobs bill.  The AMA is now pressing Congress for a real fix and not another short term fix, though it is unclear what the vehicle for that fix will be.  (2/26)

NOW is the time to influence and shape health care reform legislation  that could impact the way physicians in the Kansas City area practice for years to come.  Click on the Vote for Medicine button (at right)  to contact your members of Congress. Metro Med has provided a sample letter for you to send to your representatives. Start by clicking on "take action".

Metro Med is committed to taking the knowledge we gained from our survey to help Kansas City Area Physicians thrive. www.KCMEDNET.com is live. Visit today to upload your physician jobs, search for open positions and see all that Kansas City has to offer.

The Metropolitan Medical Society of Greater Kansas City has a 128-year history of preserving professionalism and integrity in medicine. We're your hometown medical society, with more than 900 physician members who practice throughout the five-county metropolitan area on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas state line. Metro Med is committed to ensuring that physicians maintain the traditions of high ethical conduct and quality care for patients in Kansas City.    

Our Mission: The Metropolitan Medical Society promotes quality medical care, solid business practices, leadership & innovation for physicians, their patients and their practices to thrive in the greater Kansas City area.