BALTIMORE--While the agency is so far standing firm on its Jan. 4 date--when claims will begin to reject if referring physicians are not registered in the Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System, or PECOS--an Oct. 30 message seems to indicate that CMS is aware of the issues surrounding the controversial deadline.

WASHINGTON--House plan or Senate plan? For medical device manufacturers looking at proposed excise taxes on DME, it is a case of pick your poison. The $20-billion tax proposed in the House version of health care reform undoubtedly inspires nausea among equipment makers, but the $40 billion advocated by Senate Finance Committee members is, literally, twice as bad.

WASHINGTON--The Federal Trade Commission has announced--for the fourth time--that it will delay enforcement of the so-called "Red Flags Rule" requiring implementation of identity theft prevention measures. The deadline for compliance would have been Nov. 1; that deadline has been moved to June 1, 2010. (See FTC Delays ‘Red Flags’ Rule Deadline, July 29.)

Effective 1/1/2010, H.R. 6331 (the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008) requires prompt payment of all “clean” electronic Medicare Part D claims within 14 days.