Thursday, 19 December 2024

Essential Medicare Updates for Nursing Home Medical Billing that You Must Know


 

We all know the fact that the Medicare costs are changed every financial year and you must stay on top of these cost-related updates to ensure a perfect nursing home medical billing system. You should stay alert to the new changes that will be updated by Medicare on 1st January of next year. The reality is that Medicate Part B is going down and Part A will go up, so you must ensure that your nursing home medical billing is in per with the new changes that are coming into effect in 2025. 

You need to know the Medicare Part B premium for your patients in 2025 to keep your billing accurate. 

Medicare Part B premium for 2025:  

Your patients need to standard monthly Medicare Part B premium of $185.00 from 2025 which is $10.30 extra from the current financial year, ie, 2024. Your patient’s Medicare Part B will cover your visit and outpatient care. The more your patient earns, the more premium they have to pay. Your patient needs to pay extra if they earn more than $103,000. The highest amount that your patient may have to pay is almost $505 per month for Part B. You must know about this information, especially when you are handling nursing home medical billing.  

Your patients have to pay other costs like deductibles and coinsurance if they have Medicare Part A and B. Your patient needs to pay the deductible amount of $257 from 2025.  

Now, you must know about the critical changes in CMS rules and guidelines 

Changes in billing rules in 2025:  

If you're curious about the changes, the IPPS now has a new way to classify the severity of certain diagnosis codes for homelessness. This is to ensure that people experiencing homelessness get the care and support they need! 

Starting October 1, 2024, CMS will stop checking for mismatches between a patient’s sex and their diagnosis or procedure. But don’t worry—IMO Health will still do these checks for ICD-10-CM codes to make sure everything matches correctly for you! 

The Patient Safety Structural Measure is all about keeping your patients safe. It’s a new way to see if nursing homes have the right setup, culture, and leaders who truly care about patient safety. 

The goal of this new model is to see if paying one price for all care in an episode (called bundled payment) can save money while still giving your patients good care. Some hospitals and nursing homes will follow the Transforming Episode Accountability Model (TEAM) for certain Medicare patients. It helps make sure your patients get the best care without wasting their money! 

You must be prepared for the changes in Medicare costs and make sure your nursing home medical billing system is up-to-date for 2025. You should always stay on top of all the updates as the Medicare Part B and Part A costs are increasing. Make sure your nursing home billing is prepared to handle the new costs and billing rules so your patients get the right care and you stay on track financially. You can always make sure everything runs smoothly and your patients receive the best care possible by partnering up with a professional nursing home medical billing company.