Health Care Law Blog
On June 1, 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") issued a proposed rule that would allow certain physicians to avoid having to use electronic prescribing ("eRx") by the required June 30, 2011 date.
Currently, CMS requires that providers complete at least 10 drug orders using an eRx system between January 1 and June 30, 2011 in order to avoid a one percent decrease in Medicare payments in 2012. Prior to the June 1, 2011 proposed rule, only rural providers with limited internet access or providers in an area with limited pharmacies for eRx could claim a hardship waiver to avoid the penalties for failing to make the 10 eRx orders.
The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology ("ONC") announced that the first electronic health record ("EHR") incentive payments were going to be made in mid-May to providers who had successfully attested to having met "meaningful use" and all of the other program requirements. The maximum payment that a Medicare provider in the EHR program can receive in 2011 for his or her first year of participation is $18,000. Incentive payments for eligible hospitals begin at $2 million.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS"), like other federal agencies, generally has 20 days (plus a 10 day extension) to respond to requests for information under the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"). However, CMS responses seem to take quite a bit longer.
Last week, I received a response to a FOIA request that I filed with CMS in March of 2010. That's right: 2010. In its response, CMS explained that when it is busy, it utilizes a "first-in, first-out" approach when responding to requests.
