[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 183 (Tuesday, September 22, 1998)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 50545-50547]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-24992]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Care Financing Administration

42 CFR Parts 405, 410, 413, 414, 415, 424, and 485

[HCFA-1006-CN]
RIN 0938-AI52


Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies Under the 
Physician Fee Schedule for Calendar Year 1999; Correction

AGENCY: Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA), HHS.

ACTION: Correction of proposed rule.

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SUMMARY: This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the 
proposed rule published in the Federal Register on June 5, 1998, 
entitled ``Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies Under the 
Physician Fee Schedule for Calendar Year 1999.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stanley Weintraub, (410) 786-4498.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Background

    In FR Doc. 98-14650 of June 5, 1998 (63 FR 30818), there were a 
number of technical errors. The errors relate to a typographical error, 
an inconsistency in the discussion of the same issue in two sections of 
the preamble, erroneous descriptions of two CPT codes in Table 2, and 
the reversal of CPEP data for supplies and equipment for six CPT codes 
in Table 4. We also printed incorrect information, due to an error in 
the mapping program, for certain procedure codes in Addendum C, 
beginning on page 30902. The corrections appear in this document under 
the heading ``Correction of Errors.''

[[Page 50546]]

Correction of Errors

    In FR Doc. 98-14650 of June 5, 1998, make the following 
corrections:
    Page 30832. In the first column, in line 10, the phrase 
``calculated in Step 2.'' is corrected to read: ``calculated in Step 
1.''
    Pages 30839 through 30840. The two sentences in column 3, in the 
second full paragraph, beginning in the ninth line from the bottom of 
the page and continuing on to the top of page 30840, indicate that a 
skilled nursing facility (SNF) is to be considered as a physician's 
office for the purposes of applying the higher of the two practice 
expense RVUs. These sentences are in conflict with a statement on page 
30835 that says that the SNF is a facility for the purposes of applying 
the RVUs. The sentences on pages 30839 through 30840 are in error. The 
corrected sentences on pages 30839 through 30840 should read:
    ``The lower practice expense RVUs would apply to services furnished 
to hospital, ambulatory surgical center, or skilled nursing facility 
patients. The higher practice expense RVUs would apply to services 
furnished in a physician's office or services other than visits but 
performed in a patient's home and services furnished in a nursing 
facility, or in an institution other than a hospital, ambulatory 
surgical center, or skilled nursing facility.''
    Page 30892. In the example in Table 2, the description of the 
following two codes is corrected to read as follows:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
             CPT code                            Description            
------------------------------------------------------------------------
44140.............................  Partial removal of colon.           
45330.............................  Sigmoidoscopy, diagnostic.          
------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Page 30894. In the example in Table 4, the CPEP data for supplies 
and equipment were reversed. These data for the following six codes are 
corrected to read as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              CPEP facility data                   CPEP nonfacility data        
                                   -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                      Clinical     Supplies    Equipment     Clinical     Supplies    Equipment 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
35301.............................      $144.94       $13.97        $1.04  ...........  ...........  ...........
44140.............................       188.13        12.74         1.21  ...........  ...........  ...........
45330.............................         4.76         0.00         0.00       $28.85      $116.12        $5.47
56340.............................        96.30         8.68         0.86  ...........  ...........  ...........
99213.............................         8.15         0.00         0.00        16.43         2.85         0.77
99232.............................         3.72         0.00         0.00  ...........  ...........  ...........
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Page 30902. The facility practice expense RVU and the facility 
total RVU for CPT code 10040, Acne surgery of skin abscess, are 
corrected to read as follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                              Non-                                                      
                                                                                 Physician  facility  Facility                 Non-                     
        CPT \1\/HCPCS \2\            MOD        Status          Description      work RVUs  practice  practice  Malpractice  facility  Facility   Global
                                                                                    \3\      expense   expense      RVUs       total     total          
                                                                                              RVUs      RVUs                                            
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10040...........................  ........  A               Acne surgery of          1.18       1.47      0.73       0.03        2.68      1.94      010
                                                             skin abscess.                                                                              
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ CPT codes and descriptions only are copyright 1997 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS Apply.                  
\2\ Copyright 1994 American Dental Association. All rights reserved.                                                                                    
\3\ + Indicates RVUs are not used for Medicare payment.                                                                                                 

    Page 31007.
    1. The following codes in Addendum C are corrected to read as 
follows:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                              Non-                                                      
                                                                                 Physician  facility  Facility                 Non-                     
        CPT \1\/HCPCS \2\            MOD        Status          Description      work RVUs  practice  practice  Malpractice  facility  Facility   Global
                                                                                    \3\      expense   expense      RVUs       total     total          
                                                                                              RVUs      RVUs                                            
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                                        
                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  
G0101...........................  ........  A               CA screen; pelvic/       0.45       0.45      0.28       0.02        0.92      0.75      XXX
                                                             breast exam.                                                                               
G0104...........................  ........  A               CA screen; flexi         0.96       3.42      0.38       0.12        4.50      1.46      000
                                                             sigmoidscope.                                                                              
G0105...........................  ........  A               Colorectal scrn; hi      3.70       4.37      1.74       0.39        8.46      5.83      000
                                                             risk ind.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                                        
                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  
G0121...........................  ........  N               Colon ca scrn;         + 3.70       4.37      1.74       0.39        8.46      5.83      XXX
                                                             barium enema.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                                        
                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  
G0127...........................  ........  R               Trim nail (s)......      0.11       0.16      0.05       0.02        0.29      0.18      000
                                                                                                                                                        
                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ CPT codes and descriptions only are copyright 1997 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS Apply.                  
\2\ Copyright 1994 American Dental Association. All rights reserved.                                                                                    
\3\ + Indicates RVUs are not used for Medicare payment.                                                                                                 

    2. There are technical errors in the data published for HCPCS code 
R0070, Transport portable x-ray, and HCPCS code R0075. The correct data 
are as follows:

[[Page 50547]]



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                 Non-                                                   
                                                                                    Physician  facility  Facility    Mal-      Non-                     
           CPT/HCPS \2\               MOD         Status           Description      work RVSs  practice  practice  practice  facility  Facility   Global
                                                                                       \3\      expense   expense    RVUs      total     total          
                                                                                                 RVUs      RVUs                                         
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                                                                                        
                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  
R0070............................  ........  A                Transport portable x-     0.00       1.65      1.65      0.01      1.66      1.66      XXX
                                                               ray.                                                                                     
R0075............................  ........  A                Transport port x-ray      0.00       0.69      0.69      0.01      0.70      0.70      XXX
                                                               multipl.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                        
                   *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  *                  
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ CPT codes and descriptions only are copyright 1997 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved. Applicable FARS/DFARS Apply.                  
\2\ Copyright 1994 American Dental Association. All rights reserved.                                                                                    
\3\ +Indicates RVUs are not used for Medicare payment.                                                                                                  

(Section 1848 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395w-4))

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.774, 
Medicare--Supplementary Medical Insurance Program)

    Dated: September 11, 1998.
Thomas F. Joyce,
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information Resources Management.
[FR Doc. 98-24992 Filed 9-21-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-21-M