Medicare Increase for 2014 and ICD-10-CM Implementation Delayed

On April 1, 2014, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014.  There are several areas of this new law, two of which directly impact clinical social workers.

• The law averts the 23.7 percent cut in 2014 Medicare payments for clinical social workers.  Instead a 0.5 percent increase will be reimbursed for Medicare services rendered January 1 thru December 31, 2014.  It also provides a zero percent increase in Medicare reimbursement in 2015 from January 1 to March 31, 2015.

• Clinical social workers have been preparing for the implementation of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) on October 1, 2014.  The law delays the implementation of  the ICD-10-CM  to at least October 1, 2015.  The delay raises questions regarding a definitive date for implementation as the health care community seeks further clarification from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

NASW will keep its members abreast of updates regarding the ICD-10-CM delay.