News Emerging Science CMS adds smoking, tobacco cessation counseling to Medicare telehealth coverage
Posted by: Telemedicine and e-Health
Starting Jan. 1, 2012, doctors will begin to be reimbursed by Medicare for smoking and tobacco use cessation counseling, according to a final rule issued last week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services The agency released its final rule, with a comment period, for Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule, Five-Year Review of Work Relative Value Units, Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule: Signature on Requisition, and Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2012. Also effective Jan. 1, CMS will change its code descriptors for the inpatient telehealth consultation G-codes to include emergency department telehealth consultations: "Changing the code descriptors will ensure that telehealth consultations can be reported appropriately when furnished to emergency department patients. The telehealth originating site facility fee will increase to $24.24 on Jan. 1. However, CMS also estimated that physicians can expect an across-the-board Medicare payment reduction of 27.4%—better than the 29.5% cut the Obama Administration once projected, but still significant enough that Congress may again seek a delay.