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Read Alliance News Release
See Alliance News Release
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October 2020 - The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Durable Equipment Medical Administrative Contractors (DMEMACs) updated its “Local Coverage Article: Surgical Dressings” to include payment for secondary, as well as primary, use of alginate and other fiber gelling dressings. Prior to the October 15, 2020 Policy Article Update (A54563), these products were only reimbursed when used as primary dressings - limiting healthcare providers’ discretion and choices in properly treating their wound patients.
Read Alliance News Release
October 2020 – In comments submitted to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders voiced its opposition to payment cuts from five to nine percent for surgical procedures and nine percent for physical therapy services as CMS proposes in its CY2021 Physician Fee Schedule. The Alliance also called on CMS to (1) Adopt all of the American Medical Association’s RUC recommendations including updated E/M values in procedure codes with 10- and 90-day global periods; (2) Maintain a patient’s home as an originating site even when the public health emergency expires; (3) Include additional telehealth codes for physical therapy services, and more.
Additionally, in comments submitted to CMS' CY2021 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System proposed updates, the Alliance flagged concerns with provisions dealing with coding and payment for Cellular and/or Tissue based Products for skin wounds (CTPs, also known as skin substitutes). The Alliance supported inclusion of synthetic CTPs in the definition of “skin substitutes” but expressed significant concerns with the Agency’s proposed establishment of a unique C code to define an entire class of non-branded products and the placement of these products in the OPPS high cost payment package.
See Alliance News Update Summarizing Comments