United Health Care Announces Plan to Reduce Prior Authorizations by 20% On March 30, 2023, United Health Care (UHC) announced a plan to reduce prior authorization requirements for (yet undefined) services as well as adoption of Gold Card programs. Their announcement indicated they intend to reduce nearly 20% of prior authorizations required beginning in July...

Medical Administrative Contractors To Begin Reviewing Facet Joint Intervention Procedure Payments On March 22, 2023, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recommended that CMS direct Medicare administrative contractors to recover improperly paid facet joint intervention payments. A recent OIG audit found that from August 1 through October 31,...

Federal Payment Advisory Body Calls for Physician Payment Increases in Medicare On March 3, 2023, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) called for a physician payment update tied to the Medicare Economic Index. Tying physician payment updates to the Medicare Economic Index would allow physician payments to be annually adjusted based on increased costs caused...

ISASS Requests Updated Diagnosis Codes for Spine Surgery Patients On March 10, 2023, ISASS participated in a public forum to request new International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10), Clinical Modification codes for conditions often treated by spine surgeons. Dr. Morgan Lorio, Chair of the ISASS Coding and Reimbursement Task Force, presented the request during...