From the American Academy of Ophthalmology

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is delaying payments to health care providers that were scheduled to begin Jan. 1 under the 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The agency says the hold is being implemented while it makes technical corrections to the payment rates that were erroneously published in the fee schedule. CMS indicates that it expects to have revised payment rates available no later than Jan. 20.

In the meantime, Medicare Administrative Contractors will hold 2015 payments for services for the first 14 days of the new calendar year, while the technical errors are being corrected. According to CMS, the hold should have little to no impact on provider cash flow since payments are typically made up to 14 days following electronic claims and as long as 29 days for paper submissions.

Medicare claims for services rendered on or before Wednesday, Dec. 31, 2014, are unaffected by the 2015 claims hold and will be processed and paid under normal procedures and time frames. Additionally, physicians should continue to submit claims as services are provided in order to avoid delays in payments once the revised payment rates are in effect.

The Academy will provide updates on the situation as well as analysis of the corrected payment rates once they are released by CMS.