2024 Medicare Fee Schedules

NOTICE REGARDING INCORRECTLY PROCESSED TELEHEALTH CLAIMS.

We have been told from NGS Medicare that on 4/8/24 a mass adjustment was expected to be performed for all incorrectly paid telehealth claims for dates 1/1/24-3/11/24.  

ACTION ALERT

Unless Congress acts, psychiatrists are facing continued Medicare reimbursement cuts.

While we achieved some legislative wins to increase payments for psychotherapy services in 2024 and mitigate recent overall Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) cuts on a temporary basis, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a 3.4% reduction in Medicare's physician payments for 2024. 

This cut would be devastating to physician practices and the patients they care for. To make matters worse, physician reimbursement is the only payment within Medicare without an annual inflationary update. Additional cuts could necessitate reduced staffing and office closures, disproportionately harming rural and underserved communities.  

Please urge Congress to prevent these devastating cuts from going into effect by cosponsoring the Supporting Medicare Providers Act (H.R. 2474). 

This bipartisan bill puts physicians on an equal fiscal footing with other entities drawing Medicare payment. The legislation applies a permanent inflation-based update to the MPFS conversion factor, which will provide much-needed stability to the Medicare payment system as physicians contend with an increasingly challenging environment providing Medicare beneficiaries with access to timely and quality care.

Urge Your Representative to Stop MPFS Cuts

NYSPA is proud to announce the establishment of the
NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC FOUNDATION, INC.,
a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. 

Goals and Mission

• to increase public awareness and disseminate information to the public regarding psychiatry, the prevention and treatment of mental illness and the needs of individuals with mental illness; 
• to promote and advance learning, training and research in the field of psychiatry and mental health;
• to enhance the quality of assistance to the psychiatric patient, particularly by improving access to care, improving conditions in hospitals and mental health facilities and changing perceptions of mental illness and the process of recovery;
• to eliminate discrimination against people with mental illness, which may inhibit or prevent proper care, through public awareness and public service efforts

To Donate Today, please click here! 

If any NYSPA members are interested in serving on the Foundation Advisory Committee or have ideas or suggestions for Foundation activities and initiatives, please feel free to contact us at [email protected]. 

NYSPA Telehealth Software Virtual Vendor Fair

On Tuesday, June 13^th, and Wednesday, June 14^th, NYSPA hosted and recorded a Telehealth Software Virtual Vendor Fair to assist our members in becoming more familiar with currently available options for HIPAA-Compliant telehealth software.  The following four companies each gave our members a 30-minute presentation:

• Doximity
• COVIU
• Spruce Health
• VSee

Click below to watch the recorded presentations and learn more about these companies.

Please note: Vendor presentations are for general information purposes only and should not be considered a recommendation or endorsement. Information and opinions expressed by these software vendors do not necessarily express the view of the New York State Psychiatric Association. We make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to products or services offered by the vendors.

WEBINAR UPDATE as of May 9, 2023

DEA Extends COVID-19 Flexibilities for Current Telemedicine Relationships until November 2024

Click here to read more

NYSPA Webinar:  Update on the End of the Federal PHE, April 24, 2023  

Unfortunately, it appears that the beginning of the presentation did not record properly.  Therefore, we have provided the following summary of the subject matter of the first few minutes of the presentation: 

The federal public health emergency (PHE) will be ending on May 11, 2023.  In anticipation of the end of the PHE, the DEA published proposed rules regarding the prescribing of controlled substances and the prescribing of buprenorphine by means of a telemedicine relationship.  Please keep in mind that these are proposed rules and are not yet final.  Following a 30-day public comment period, the DEA will review and consider all comments and then prepare and issue final rules.  At this time, there is no official timeframe for issuance of final rules. 

The following is a summary of key provisions of the proposed rules.  We currently await issuance of a final rule.  

NYSPA President Edward Herman, M.D., J.D. was recently quoted in a PsychNews article discussing the NYC Mayor’s new plan for involuntary commitments.  Please click here to read the article.  

2023 Medicare Fee Schedules

Notice of Good Faith Estimate of Non-Deductibility of NYSPA 2022 and 2023 Dues

The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 included certain provisions denying tax deductibility for the portion of dues paid to 501(c)(6) professional organizations that is spent on influencing state or federal legislation. The law requires NYSPA to provide its members with a good-faith estimate of the portion of their dues which is attributable to lobbying and therefore, is non-deductible for federal income tax purposes.

New York City Needs Comprehensive Approach 
to Address Mental Health Crisis

New York City Mayor Eric Adams recently announced a new plan to provide care for untreated individuals suffering from serious and persistent mental illness who are unable to care for themselves, including assessment, emergency transport and involuntary commitment. While the New York State Psychiatric Association (NYSPA) appreciates and values the Mayor’s commitment to assist individuals with mental illness, we caution against the use of involuntary commitment as a blanket solution without examination of other root causes and solutions.  It is well-established that individuals with mental illness are much more likely to be the victim of a crime rather than the perpetrator of a crime and involuntary commitment may not be appropriate in all cases.  Other factors at play include rising rates of homelessness, lack of access to care, long-term healthcare disparities caused by under-investment in community-based resources, and the ripple and long-term of effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

2023 CPT CODING, BILLING AND DOCUMENTATION UPDATE

Presented by Rachel A. Fernbach, Esq.
December 12, 2022

PRESS RELEASE: NYSPA, MSSNY & NASW-NYS Veterans Mental Health Training Initiative Continues to Enhance Capacity of Practitioners in Community to Care for Veterans & Families as NYS & U.S. Commemorate Veterans Day

Please click here to read the full Press Release

ProjectTEACH

Project TEACH is a New York State Office of Mental Health funded program that offers support to primary care, ob/gyn and psychiatric clinicians who are treating perinatal and/or pediatric patients with mental health concerns. Our team of reproductive psychiatrists and child and adolescent psychiatrists provide expert guidance through telephone consultations and CME education programs. Liaison coordinators provide linkage and referral support to outpatient programs in your community. All of our services are fast, free, friendly and easy to access no matter where you are in New York State.  For consultations call us at 1-855-227-7272 Monday-Fridays 9-5 or visit us at www.projectTEACHny.org. 

2022 Telehealth Update Webinar

March 15, 2022
Presented by: Rachel Fernbach, Esq. 

2022 Medicare Fee Schedules

NYSPA Structural Racism Task Force Statement (1 October 2021)

In the context of the killing of George Floyd and the disproportionate burden of the COVID pandemic on Black Americans, NYSPA, like the APA and other national medical organizations, has undertaken to address structural racism – the long-standing combination of public policies, institutional practices and social forces, ideologies, and processes that generate and perpetuate inequities among races. NYSPA commits to understanding and acknowledging the history of racism in American society, including its role in sustaining inequality and discrimination. NYSPA undertakes to use a social justice lens to achieve diversity, equity and inclusion.

NYSPA we’ll take the following steps to achieve racial equity for all the residents of NY State:

• NYSPA affirms that structural racism is a public health crisis and a root cause of health inequities that shapes and influences healthcare, medical education and organized medicine, including psychiatry.
• NYSPA Supports and endorses the work of the APA Presidential Task Force to Address Structural Racism Throughout Psychiatry
• NYSPA will systematically evaluate its policies and procedures to ensure that it supports equity in all aspects of its work, and that a record of this process is visible to all members.
• NYSPA will advocate for mental health care reform, making equitable, quality mental health treatment & services a priority
• NYSPA will urge all district branches to affirm that racism is a public health crisis & that their mission statements, policies, and procedures support Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.
• NYSPA will work collaboratively with all district branches to develop a strategic plan to improve recruitment, retention, promotion, support, and mentoring of historically marginalized members.
• NYSPA commits to adopting ongoing recommendations made by the Task Force to address structural racism.

2022 Medicare Update Webinar

Presented by: Rachel Fernbach, Esq. and Seth P. Stein, Esq.
Webinar Date: December 15, 2021

NYSPA-Inspired Law Leads NYS Department of Financial Services To Recoup $3.1 Million from Insurers for Violations of Mental Health & Substance Use Disorder Parity Laws

Garden City, NY – The New York State Psychiatric Association (NYSPA) is pleased to report that the Department of Financial Services (DFS) recently recovered $3.1 million from insurance carriers doing business in New York for violations of federal and state mental health and substance use disorder parity laws. This recovery is a direct result of the Mental Health and Substance Use Parity Report Act, a state law enacted in 2018/2019, which was envisioned and championed by NYSPA.  

State vs. Federal Telemedicine Updates

In order to further assist our members, NYSPA has put together a chart outlining several legal and practice issues relating to telemedicine, both from a state and federal perspective.  To view the chart, please click here.