Frequently Asked Questions are used to provide additional information and/or statutory guidance not found in State Medicaid Director Letters, State Health Official Letters, or CMCS Informational Bulletins. The different sets of FAQs as originally released can be accessed below.
Frequently Asked Questions
While some plans may be able to pay the higher rate prior to receiving state funds, the final rule does not obligate a health plan to pay eligible providers the higher rate until they have been provided the funds to do so.
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The State will issue a communication instructing providers that only those who are board-certified in a specified specialty/subspecialty or who meet the 60 percent threshold of appropriate claims history are eligible to receive the rate increase.
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Each physician must self-attest to being a qualified provider. It is not appropriate for a state to rely on a modifier to a claim for the initial self-attestation. Under the final rule, states are not required to independently verify the eligibility of each and every physician who might qualify for higher payment. Therefore, it is important that documentation exist that the physicians themselves supplied a proper attestation. That attestation has two parts. Physicians must attest to an appropriate specialty designation and also must further attest to whether that status is based on either being Board certified or to having the proper claims history. Once the signed self-attestation is in the hands of the Medicaid agency, claims may be identified for higher payment through the use of a modifier.
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The certification must be current. If it has lapsed but the physician still practices as an eligible specialist the self-attestation would need to be supported with a 60 percent claims history.
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As with all Medicaid services, the state in which the beneficiary is determined eligible (state A) sets the payment rate for services. Therefore, state A would be responsible for paying using the methodology it had chosen with respect to determining the appropriate Medicare rate and would not be required to pay the rate the physician would receive from state B.
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The correction was published in the Federal Register on December 14, 2012. In it CMS clarified that states must reimburse providers the lower or the provider’s charge or the applicable Medicare rate.
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FQHCs and RHCs are required by law to be paid at least prospective payment system (PPS) for core primary care services. Physician services are core FQHC and RHC services and, therefore, should not be reimbursed on a fee-for-service basis.