Final Budget Package Takes No Action to Stop

Medi-Cal Provider Rate Reductions

The Budget Conference Committee took no action to stop the 10% provider rate reduction. Retroactivity was removed for physician services but the 10% reduction was implemented in January 2014 for fee for service payments. It has not and will not be applied to Medi-Cal Managed Care Plan payments for radiology or radiation oncology services. Both the Assembly and Senate versions of the budget would have eliminated the 10% reduction on a prospective basis for fee for service.

The Governor continued to oppose any change from his original budget proposal to not eliminate the 10% reduction for all provider types. Though there were comments from almost every Conference Committee members on both sides of the aisle that there needs to be rate relief to insure the availability of providers to serve the expanding Medi-Cal population no relief was provided. The compromise budget language only requires DHCS to continue monitor access and if it is determined that is impaired, DHCS has authority to adjust rates.

More than disappointing but the Governor will only make provider rate changes selectively as the need is demonstrated. The Legislators on the Conference Committee decried the low provider rates in California and the continued reductions in the provider pool. They asked for priority action next year, but that does not help us now. The Governor will be signing the final budget document shortly.

Radiology Dose Monitoring Webinar on June 26, 2014

presented by KLAS Research and the CRS

Please plan on participating in this upcoming webinar presented by KLAS Research and the CRS on radiology dose monitoring.

Radiology Dose Monitoring Solutions:

Provider Strategies in an Evolving Market

When

June 26, 2014

12:00 noon to 1:00 PM

Presenters

Matt Terry, VP of Medical Imaging/Equipment from KLAS Research

Robert Oscanyan, Manager of Research Analysis from KLAS Research

Dr. Evan Zucker, a fellow at Stanford

Join KLAS Research and CRS for a webinar discussing provider's strategies in the evolving market of radiology dose monitoring solutions. The webinar will discuss recent survey data on the impact of the recent dose reporting law on California radiology practices, and which vendor's are controlling mindshare in this market and why. We will discuss the different dose monitoring solutions, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as look at what provider's strategies are moving forward.

The webinar is free to all CRS members.

Click here to register.

The webinar will be recorded and made available to members via the CRS website shortly after the live presentation.