Proposed Medicare Fee Schedule 2014: Breaking News: EDs Could See A 3 Percent Increase in Medicare Payments

Why This Topic Matters

It helps readers understand proposed Medicare payment policy changes that could affect emergency department reimbursement and planning for the upcoming fee schedule year. It also signals the presence of claim-report examples that may be relevant to coding and billing workflows.

Article Sections

1. CMS proposed rule and expected specialty impact

   Summarizes the proposed Medicare physician fee schedule update and the anticipated overall effect on emergency medicine compared with other specialties.

2. RVU and MEI changes

   Explains the factors behind proposed relative value unit updates, including Medicare Economic Index reweighting and related payment methodology changes.

3. Conversion factor and payment outlook

   Discusses the projected conversion factor adjustment and how it relates to overall payment changes under the proposal.

4. GPCI floor changes and frontier states

   Covers the scheduled expiration of the national geographic practice cost index floor and the special treatment of frontier states and Alaska.

5. Comment period and final rule timing

   Provides the public comment deadline and the expected release window for the final rule.

6. On the claim report

   Includes claim-report examples referencing emergency department and procedure coding items in a billing context.