Medicare reimbursement rates for ambulance services will increase by 1.5% in calendar year 2015. On October 7, 2014, CMS issued Transmittal 3090, revising the Ambulance Inflation Factor for calendar year 2015. CMS previously said the Inflation Factor would be 1.4%.
Each year, CMS updates the Medicare ambulance reimbursement rates to reflect increases in inflation. CMS calls this...
On July 14, 2014, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued new and controversial Enforcement Guidance on the subject of pregnancy discrimination. The text of the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance is available at: http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/pregnancy_guidance.cfm. This sweeping new Guidance, the first guidance for employers on the subject issued by the EEOC since...
On July 11, 2014, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Proposed Rule entitled: “Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule, Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule, Access to Identifiable Data for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Models & Other Revisions to Part B for CY 2015.” The lengthy Proposed Rule revises payment polices for several types of Part B Medicare providers, including ambulance services,...
On May 12, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Proposed Rule that would significantly enhance the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) authority to impose civil money penalties (CMPs). The OIG has the ability to impose CMPs on providers who participate in Federal health care programs for various activities related to health care fraud, patient abuse, and...
On May 9, 2014, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a Proposed Rule amending the regulations relating to the Office of Inspector General’s (OIG) exclusion authorities. The OIG has the ability to exclude providers from participation in Federal healthcare programs for activities related to healthcare fraud, patient abuse, and other activities. The Proposed Rule would enhance the...
The costs of sexual harassment can be very high. What are the financial costs? Attorneys fees to defend a case to trial can run from $50,000-$100,000 for one thing by the time it's all over. Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, plaintiffs are now entitled to compensatory (“pain and suffering”) damages, punitive damages, in addition to back pay and front pay awards. Plus, the law requires that the employer pay the attorneys fees of the plaintiff if the plaintiff prevails at trial...
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Click HERE to go the IRS website for information relating to firefighters including: Compensation, Income Tax, Social Security Tax, Medicare Tax, Emergency Workers, Expenses and Reimburesments, State or Local Tax Benefits |
New rules from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will have a significant impact on helicopter air ambulance services. These regulations implement new operational procedures and require additional equipment for helicopter air ambulances in response to an increase in fatal helicopter air ambulance accidents. The new rules identify four common factors in those accidents- inadvertent flight into Instrument Meteorological Conditions, loss of control, controlled flight into terrain, and...
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is aimed at getting tens of millions of uninsured Americans into the health insurance marketplace, and there are a number of ways the law goes about doing that. One major initiative, the “employer mandate,” requires employers with at least 50 full-time employees (including full-time equivalent employees) to offer health insurance to all employees that work at least 30 hours per week and their dependents. Employees that work at least 30 hours per week are...
