On July 1, the CMS released the proposed changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). CMS updates the MPFS annually to set payment rates for physician and non-physician practitioner services. The press release is found on the Medical Release Database section within CMS: http://tinyurl.com/kqsdym.

On July 1, the CMS released the proposed policy changes for services provided in hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers (ASC) for 2010, under the outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS). The press release is found on the Medical Release Database section within CMS: http://tinyurl.com/nmx88h.

One of the first actions of the new Obama administration was to issue an order to undertake a legal and policy review of all regulations issued by the executive that have not yet gone into effect. The review may push back the effective dates of several regulation issued by CMS and HHS, or lead to their repeal. The Bush administration issued a similar directive when it first took office, suspending the effective dates for several final rules issued in the last days of the Clinton administration.