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DentalCodeology eBook Explains Complexity of New Medicare Rules

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“What Dentists Need to Know about Medicare NOW” is Now Available in Digital Format
Posted: May 26, 2015
Edited by Dentaltown staff

ADDISON, Ill.—Patti DiGangi, RDH, BS, a prominent dental hygiene thought leader, recently published the fourth installment of her continuing DentalCodeology mini-book series entitled “What Dentists Need to Know about Medicare NOW” 

For this edition of the mini-book series, Patti partnered again with insurance coding authority Christine Taxin, and with another qualified coding and Medicare expert, Jan Palmer to provide dentists with an easy-to-follow primer on how to make informed Medicare decisions that will benefit their patients and practices alike.

“The time is now for dentists to get smart about Medicare,” says DiGangi.

She further states that the new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ruling that goes into effect on January 1, 2016 will impact many older patients if their dentists prescribe medication, perform biopsies that require pathology tests, or simply refer their Medicare-eligible patients to a specialist.

DiGangi warns that the Medicaid opt-out clause can be particularly confusing and may have a devastating financial impact if not fully-understood. For example, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a final rule in May 2014 that requires all physicians and eligible professionals—including dentists—who prescribe Part D covered drugs to be enrolled in Medicare or opt-out for those prescriptions to be covered under Part D. 

By signing an affidavit to opt-out out of the program, dentists are out of the Medicare system for two years—not one year. This means that they cannot receive any direct or indirect Medicare payment for services provided to Medicare patients during that time. 

“Two years is a long time to sit on the Medicare bench,” states DiGangi. “With the aging of our baby boomers, opting-out of Medicare may cause many of their patients to abandon dentists that didn't make any choice at all. The dentists will leave a lot of money on the table that could be going right to the bottom lines of the practices.”

Every member of your team should not only read this, but have their own copy for easy referencing. It would cost thousands of dollars and many hours of a team’s time to discover all this information and these resources on their own.” said practice-building thought leader Linda Miles.

For more information about “What Dentists Need to Know about Medicare NOW’, visit www.DentalCodeology.com or contact sales@DentalCodeology.com.
 
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