Originally posted to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Headlines e-mail list on November 7, 2005.
Targeted For Elimination, Pool Will Be Retained For 2006 Medicare Fee Schedule
Rockville, MD-November 7, 2005-- The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently decided to defer its proposed elimination of the non-physician work pool (NPWP) for at least a year—a step for which the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association(ASHA) had vigorously advocated.
CMS' decision was reported in the 2006 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule that was released earlier this month. Before then, the agency had proposed eliminating the NPWP beginning in 2006, a development that would have resulted in a 21% reduction for audiology services over a four-year period.
The continued use of the NPWP will maintain, or very closely approximate, current total relative value units (RVUs).
"This deferral on the elimination of the non-work pool is a tremendous victory for audiologists, " ASHA President Dolores Battle says. "Also, it gives us with the opportunity to push for an alternative payment methodology that better reflects the professional work audiologists and speech-language pathologists undertake as part of their services."
ASHA, which advocated vigorously against CMS's proposed elimination of the NPWP, is continuing to work to develop a more reasonable alternative. For example, through its Health Care Economics Committee, it is in the process of making the case to CMS and the American Medical Association (AMA) Relative Value Update Committee (RUC) that moving the professions' activities from the technical component (or practice expense) to the professional component (or physician work) is appropriate, legally possible, and equitable for future valuations of audiology and speech-language pathology procedures.
ASHA is the national professional and scientific association for more than 120,000 audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists. Audiologists specialize in preventing, identifying, assessing, and treating hearing disorders, including fitting hearing aids and other assistive listening devices. Speech-language pathologists identify, assess, and treat speech and language problems including swallowing disorders.
For more information on ASHA or speech, language, and hearing disorders, call 1-800-638-8255 or visit www.asha.org.
Reprinted by permission of the American Speech-Lanuage-Hearing Association.
