CMS has a new name -- now for a new attitude

AMA Leader Commentary. By Richard F. Corlin, MD. Sept. 17, 2001.

AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

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A message to all physicians from AMA President Richard F. Corlin, MD.

We have a new secretary of Health and Human Services, we have a new administrator at the Health Care Financing Administration, and we have a new name for that agency -- the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It makes us hopeful that CMS has a new attitude toward physicians as well, because we are prepared to help make Medicare work better for patients and physicians.

During his confirmation hearings, Tommy Thompson, now secretary of Health and Human Services, acknowledged that HCFA had alienated members of both major political parties, and that the way the agency operated needed to be changed.

In and of itself, renaming the agency CMS merely adds a new acronym to our vocabulary.

But it's good to have an administrator for that agency who has experienced the problems firsthand. And we applaud the secretary for bringing a new attitude to the table.

In fact, Thompson and CMS Administrator Tom Scully have both indicated an openness to reform.

Early on, the Bush administration developed a list of 15 problem areas in Medicare to resolve, called the "Physician Issues Project." The list includes several high-priority issues for the AMA.

One is frequent Medicare denials of coverage for preoperative evaluations. CMS has sent new instructions to its contractors telling them that preoperative evaluation are to be treated as covered services by Medicare.

And last month, CMS issued instructions to Medicare carriers to curtail the use of random prepayment audits of physicians' claims as part of their medical review efforts. [...]