Rep. Diane Black, R-Tennessee, introduced a new bill related to ICD-10 into the House of Representatives May 12.
H.R. 2247, Increasing Clarity for Doctors by Transitioning Effectively Now Act (ICD-TEN Act), would not change the October 1, 2015 implementation date or require payers to accept both ICD-9 and ICD-10 claims. Rather, the bill would require CMS to conduct 18 months of end-to-end testing open to all providers to determine whether the fee-for-service claims processing system works with ICD-10.
The bill only mentions fee-for-service payments—basically physician practices. Both inpatient and outpatient facilities are paid under prospective payment systems.
During the transition period and any ensuing extensions, CMS could not deny reimbursement only because of the “use of an unspecified or inaccurate subcode.”
The AMA has previously pushed for a similar guarantee without success.
Black’s bill is competing with H.R. 2126 introduced by Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, April 30. Poe’s bill, however, would delay ICD-10 indefinitely.