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ICS Office Closed
The ICS
office will be closed Friday, July 4, 2008.
Have a safe Holiday.
Medicare Fee Schedule
Update
As you know, the Department of Health and
Human Services (HHS) put a hold on the January 1 – June 30,
2008 Medicare fee schedule for 10 days to allow Congress more
time to come up with a solution to the proposed 10.6% fee
decrease.
CMS reported
that they are working with Congress, health care providers and
the beneficiary community to avoid disruption in the delivery
of health care services and payment of claims for Medicare
providers.
They have
instructed their contractors, including Wisconsin Physician
Service (WPS), to hold these claims for services provided July
1 - 10. All claims for services provided on or
before June 30 will be processed and paid as normal. After 10
business days, contractors will begin releasing
claims for processing under the fee schedule. This, of
course, may result in claims being processed with the
negative 10.6 percent update. If a new law is enacted which
changes the negative 10.6 percent update, retroactive to July
1, CMS is prepared to automatically reprocess most claims
processed since July 1.
Claims with
dates of service July 1 and later, billed with a submitted
charge at the level of the January 1 - June 30, 2008 fee
schedule, will be automatically reprocessed if Congress
retroactively reinstates the update that was in effect for
that time period. Any lesser amount will likely require
providers to re-submit a revised claim.
CMS
suggests providers hold claims in-house until it becomes
clear as to whether new legislation will be enacted. This will
reduce the need for providers to reconcile two
payments (i.e., the initial claim and the reprocessed
claim), and simplify provider billings of beneficiary
coinsurance and payment calculations for payers which are
secondary to Medicare. If you have questions, contact
Denise Hoffman at 800-475-6178, Ext. 103 or e-mail dhoffman@iowadcs.org.
CONTINUE TO
CONTACT YOUR SENATORS. Use the ACA
Legislative Action Center to contact your Federal
Senators electronically or use the AMA toll-free hotline
1-800-833-6354 to call your Senators - ask them to take
immediate action.
ICS
Appoints New Executive Director
The Iowa
Chiropractic Society Board of Directors is pleased to announce
the appointment of Mr. Daniel D. Garrett as Executive Director
effective July 28, 2008.
Mr. Garrett comes to the Iowa Chiropractic Society
from Chicago-based Prevent Blindness America where he serves
as Senior Vice President. During his eight year tenure,
he built a strong federal and state patient advocacy program
and raised millions of dollars to support its mission-based
programs.
“We are delighted to bring Dan
back to his hometown of Des Moines and to lead the Iowa
Chiropractic Society,” said President, Dr. Bradley Burt.
“With his expertise in the non-profit sector and strong
background in management, advocacy and communications, the
board is confident he will be integral to advancing the
chiropractic profession in Iowa.”
Mr. Garrett
received his bachelor’s degree in business administration from
Iowa State University. He has been involved in a variety
of business and civic arts groups including Executives Club of
Chicago, AMD Alliance International, National Council on
Patient Information and Education, and president of The Poetry
Center of Chicago.
$10,000 Anonymous Donor
The ball is
rolling on the Wellmark lawsuit. A motion for amendment
was made and a hearing will be held on July
7, 2008. Action is being taken and progress is
being made. The doctors who have stepped up to the plate and
put themselves on the line to be named as plaintiffs are: Dr.
Larry E. Phipps of Marshalltown, Dr. Bradley J.
Brown of Oelwein, Dr. Mark A.
Kruse of Sioux City, Dr. Steven D.
Mueller of Algona and Dr. Kevin D. Miller
of West Des Moines. Upon the recommendation of Glenn
Norris, ICS is not plaintiff at this time.
A surprise $10,000 donation was received this week from a
doctor for the Chiropractic Equity Trust Fund (CETF), the
legal fundraising organization supporting the Wellmark
lawsuit. The note enclosed said, “This battle needs to be
fought and won, once and for all.”
The battle is
“for all”. We are up against the tremendous financial giant
Wellmark and everyone’s contribution is urgently needed.
Please complete and return a Pledge
Form if you have not made a contribution. If you
made a previous commitment, return the Account Transfer Form
so your future payments can be redirected to the CETF.
Note: Account Transfer Forms were mailed last month
to those doctors who pledge to give weekly, monthly, and
quarterly amounts. If you have questions about
redirecting your pledge, contact Denise Hoffman at
800-475-6178, Ext. 103. Please fax or mail your
form today. Your help is urgently needed as
everyone has and will benefit from these efforts to end
discrimination in the state of Iowa. Thank you to those who
have contributed to the effort.
If you have any questions, please contact the trustees for
the CETF, Dr. Rod Langel, langelchiro@dwx.com, or
Dr. Rod Rebarcak, drrebarcak@aol.com.
ICS Equipment Recycling Service Expanded For
Disaster Relief
The ICS Equipment Recycling
Service is provided as a benefit of membership to those in the
first five years of their practice to accomplish two purposes.
First, it provides members needing equipment with a source for
free equipment, which while not new, is perfectly serviceable.
Second, it provides a mechanism by which doctors, who have
equipment that is not being used, can put that equipment to
good use.
The ICS Doctor to Doctor Committee
has expanded this service to include doctors who have
lost office property and/or equipment due to the recent
flooding and other natural disasters. These doctors will
be allowed to participate in the ICS Equipment Recycling
Service (for a limited time ending December 31, 2008)
regardless of how long they have been practicing.
Click
here if you wish to make a donation to the Equipment
Recycling Service. If you are interested in receiving
equipment from the service or if you have questions contact
Denise Hoffman at 800-475-6178, Ext. 103 or e-mail dhoffman@iowadcs.org.
Attention Aetna Providers—ACA Needs Your
Feedback
Over the last several months, ACA has
received complaints regarding certain Aetna policies as they
relate to chiropractic care. To determine the seriousness and
breadth of the reported problems, they are asking that
all doctors fill out ACA's twelve
question survey no later than July 18, 2008. The
survey can be completed in 5-10 minutes. The results will help
ACA’s Insurance Relations Department advocate on behalf of the
profession with regard to this issue.
Elder Law
Seminars
This free series of elder law
information for older Iowans, their caregivers and family
members as well as professionals working with the aging
population, is sponsored by the Iowa Department of Elder
Affairs and Iowa Legal Aid’s Legal Hotline for Older
Iowans. Click
here for a brochure and registration information.
Questions? Call Iowa Legal Aid at 800-992-8161. This
seminar is not sponsored by the Iowa Chiropractic
Society.
Autism Workshop Available – July 12,
2008
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention issued a report (February 2007) that the
prevalence of autism had risen to 1 in every 150 American
children, and almost 1 in 94 boys. Hy-Vee has teamed up with a
variety of community experts and will be focusing on effective
teaching strategies as well as dietary and biomedical
intervention. Plus, Hy-Vee’s HealthMarket will be giving free
samples of a variety of gluten-free foods and information on
the exclusive Hy-Vee label gluten-free list. The
workshop starts at 10:00 a.m. on July 12, 2008 at the Hy-Vee
located at 2009 Devils Glen Rd., Bettendorf, IA. To register
for the event call 563-332-8496. Click
here for the event flyer. This seminar is not
sponsored by the Iowa Chiropractic Society. | 
