Media Mentions
2008
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the January 18 issue of BNA’s Medicare Report in an article regarding the top Medicare issues to watch in 2008, specifically competitive billing. "Barring a stay on implementation or other substantial change to the program requirements or roll-out, competitive bidding will have a serious and negative impact on small DME suppliers," Mr. Zimmerman said.
2007
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the July 20 issue of BNA’s Medicare Report regarding The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services releasing a new rule which sets new payment rates for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in 2008. "The ASC final rule is the most significant and substantial change to how and how much Medicare pays ASCs since the inception of the program 25 years ago," Mr. Zimmerman said.
Eric Zimmerman, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC), Health
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in a February 1 article in EndoNurse in regards to reimbursement for gastrointestinal (GI) procedures. "The march to the new payment system is definitely topic number one," Mr. Zimmerman said.
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Managed Care
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the January 24 issue of BNA's Health Care Daily in regards to President Bush's proposal for potential new use of safety net payment. "It is hard to judge the impact of the proposal, because details of how it would work are sketchy. But a plan to replace DASH funds for hospitals with payments for providers from health insurance coverage could work," Mr. Zimmerman said.
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the January 8 issue of BNA's Health Care Daily in regards to health care being a prominent figure in the work of the Democratically controlled 110th Congress. "I expect 2007 to be a big year for Medicare legislation. There is incredible built-up demand. It has been more than three years since Congress advanced major Medicare legislation, and there are many areas that cry out for attention. Anything Democrats try to do to the prescription drug benefit, Medicare Advantage (managed care) program, or physician fee schedule will serve as a vehicle for a variety of other provisions," Mr. Zimmerman said.
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Managed Care
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the January 2007 issue of Today’s Surgicenter discussing the 4th Annual ASC Legislative Update. According to Mr. Zimmerman, the industry should focus on the reintroduction of bills such as these that cover the "conversion factor" for the new payment system. He also commented, "the ASC industry has a little under a year to lobby Congress for some kind of congressional intervention."
Eric Zimmerman, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC), Health
2006
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the July 21 issue of BNA's Medicare Report in an article about how a provision of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 will place a hold on Medicare payments for Part A and Part B claims for the last nine days of fiscal year 2006. Mr. Zimmerman noted that he told BNA that the payment delay is not something providers should be concerned about. "It may affect cash flow, but not significantly," he said. Mr. Zimmerman was also quoted saying, "It's an accounting trick that Congress used to contain the overall cost of the bill. By shifting some of the costs into later years, they were able to achieve the overall spending goals that they needed to be within."
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Managed Care
Eric Zimmerman was mentioned in the June 2 issue of BNA’s Medicare Report in an article titled, "CMS Survey Seeks Financial Information for Specialty Hospital Report to Congress." Mr. Zimmerman was quoted saying that the survey is of a sensitive nature, seeking detailed information about physician investors in acute-care or specialty hospitals and about common joint venture arrangements between hospitals and physicians.
Eric Zimmerman was quoted by Surgicenteronline.com in their June 2006 issue regarding compensation for orthopedic surgeries. Zimmerman notes that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is currently working on a proposal to re-base ambulatory surgery center rates, and that the agency is expected to come out with a proposal to implement new payment amounts for ASC services, probably by the end of the summer or early next fall.
Eric Zimmerman, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC), Health, Managed Care
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the May 15 issue of Modern Healthcare in regards to a CMS report that focused on payment revisions for hospital inpatient and ambulatory surgical center services. The report also defined what a hospital is and reviewed procedures for enrollment. "The most significant (aspect) is that it signals that CMS is not likely going to be making the types of changes that opponents had hoped for."
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Managed Care
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the March 31 issue of BNA’s Medicare Report in the article "DRA's Medicare Reduction of $6 billion Reflects Reluctance to Reduce Spending." Regarding the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA), Mr. Zimmerman said the budget resolution that is emerging from the Senate budget committee does not call for Medicare spending reductions. "Nevertheless, the House has not yet completed its resolution on the 2007 budget and may require Medicare to put spending reductions on the table," he said.
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Managed Care
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the February 10 issue of BNA's Medicare Report in the article "Budget Bill: Hospitals Spared Cuts, Specialty Report Due." Regarding the new Deficit Reduction Act, Mr. Zimmerman said the specialty hospital provisions in the act are "really mixed." The bill demonstrates that Congress has rejected, or displayed its unwillingness to address, the specialty hospital issue from an ownership perspective, he said. "I think you have a lot of would-be developers looking at this as if not a green light, certainly amber. It's a cautious environment."
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Managed Care
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the January 13 issue of BNA's Medicare Report in the article "Medicare Part D Drug Benefit Brings Significant Program Changes, Uncertainty." Regarding the new Medicare drug benefit, Mr. Zimmerman said, "Congress will be torn between wanting to create incentives in the program to entice beneficiaries to enroll and needing to contain program costs that are almost assuredly going to be higher than expected."
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Managed Care
2005
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the December 20 issue of BNA’s Health Care Daily Report in an article about the House of Representatives voting on Dec. 19 to extend the current restrictions on the enrollment of new physician-owned, specialty hospitals. Mr. Zimmerman told BNA the bill contains a “healthy mix of things,” but noted that many of the Medicare provisions are in effect for only one year, requiring lawmakers to revisit the issues in 2006.
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Managed Care
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the December 20 issue of BNA's Health Care Daily Report in an article about the U.S. House of Representatives voting on December 19 to extend the current restrictions on the enrollment of new physician-owned, specialty hospitals. Mr. Zimmerman told BNA the bill contains a "healthy mix of things," but noted that many of the Medicare provisions are in effect for only one year, requiring lawmakers to revisit the issues in 2006.
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Managed Care
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the July 14 issue of BNA's Health Care Daily Report in the article "Ambulatory Surgical Centers Relieved by Recent Rule, but Want New Pay System." Regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' decision to expand the number of procedures Medicare will cover if performed in ASCs, Mr. Zimmerman told BNA "there was some degree of relief that CMS did not proceed with many of the proposed deletions from [November 2004], and that they also added more procedures" than originally proposed. He noted, however, that there was also a great deal of disappointment that many other procedures were not added.
Eric Zimmerman, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC), Health
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in BNA's Medicare Report on June 10 in the article "Moratorium for Speciality Hospitals Ends; Providers Say Future Construction Unclear." According to Mr. Zimmerman, "under the former moratorium there were a number of ambiguities in the law that left ample room for would-be developers. The chances are that under a new moratorium, the ambiguities will continue to exist and developers may take advantage of them."
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in BNA's Health Care Daily Report on June 9 in an article regarding the June 8 expiration of the moratorium for new speciality hospitals. "Congress has sent a signal that there is a good likelihood that whatever extensions of the moratorium enacted will be retroactive. Developers should not look at this [the expiration of the moratorium] as a lapse period," Mr. Zimmerman said.
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in Modern Healthcare on May 30 in an article regarding the moratorium on physician self-referral to specialty hospitals that is set to expire June 8, 2005. "I think there are very clear signals that any extension of the moratorium is very much in doubt right now," said Mr. Zimmerman. "Making it permanent is highly unlikely."
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Health Ventures/Physician Transactions
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in BNA Medicare Reporter on May 13 regarding the proposed Hospital Fair Competition Act of 2005. "The bill effectively precludes specialty hospitals from whole hospital exception in the Stark physician self-referral law, but does not define specialty hospitals further than how they are defined in the 2003 Medicare law," he said. "The law remains vague about what defines a specialty hospital, and the Grassley-Baucus bill potentially leaves room for physician-owners to adjust their models to provide a greater number of services but essentially function still as single-specialty facilities, eligible for Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement." He added the bill "would have the intended effect of preventing specialty hospital developers from opening new facilities, at least in the short term, because Grassley and Baucus were clear in the legislation that they intended the bill to be enacted retroactively."
2004
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the December 6 issue of Part B News in an article regarding how next year there may be 25 new procedures payable to the ASCs under a proposed CMS revision to the ASC list. Mr. Zimmerman believes the proposed changes could hurt single-specialty urology ASCs the most. He added that a number of the codes set to be taken off the list are urology codes often done in ASCs.
Eric Zimmerman, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC), Health
Eric Zimmerman was featured in the December 2004 issue of Today's Surgicenter in an article entitled, "Who's Who in the Ambulatory Surgery Industry." The magazine's readers were asked to nominate outstanding individuals, facilities and organizations that serve the outpatient health care community. Mr. Zimmerman was chosen as a recognized Medicare law and policy authority who helps clients navigate federal legislative and regulatory processes, improve reimbursement and maintain compliance. Mr. Zimmerman stated, "I happened into health care, but the minute I got involved, I was hooked, and my interest and dedication have not wavered since."
Eric Zimmerman, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASC), Health
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the November 24 issue of BNA's Daily Report for Executives in an article regarding how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has proposed to update the list of Medicare-covered procedures that are reimbursed when performed in ambulatory surgery centers. Mr. Zimmerman found the proposal "disappointing." Although CMS has received dozens of procedures to consider as additions, the agency has not undertaken a meaningful review in nearly a decade, he said.
Eric Zimmerman offered advice to the readers of Gastroenterology Coder's Pink Sheet (July 2004) on how to resolve the problem of improper pay for E/M and screening colonoscopies by stating "if a provider or physician becomes aware that they are in possession of an overpayment, CMS and the Inspector General believe that there is an obligation to make a repayment back to Medicare." Mr. Zimmerman also commented on the appropriate action time and how to go about refunding overpayments.
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Reimbursement/Fraud & Abuse
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the April 2 issue of BNA's Medicare Report in the article, "Small Hospitals Get Payment Hikes As Required Under Drug Law, CMS Says." Mr. Zimmerman said that the payments for inpatient hospital services to rural and small urban areas will now be based on the same standardized amounts that are used to determine payments to hospitals in large urban areas.
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the April 2004 issue of Outpatient Surgery on the significantly increased number of local lobbyist attacks on physician-owned surgical centers. "I've never seen this level of state activity in my 14 years," Mr. Zimmerman commented. He also added how "difficult to fight" and "disconcerting" these attacks are due to their variety of forms. Studies have shown that physician-owned surgical centers do "not lead to abuse, higher program costs or costs to the beneficiary;" however, "when the assault comes in the form of a CON," he added, "we have to respond in a different way."
2003
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the August issue of Radiology Administrator's Compliance & Reimbursement Insider in an article about hospital provider-based status requirements.
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Reimbursement/Fraud & Abuse
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the April 4 issue of BNA's Medicare Report in regard to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized changes to its list of Medicare-approved ambulatory surgical procedures.
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the March 2003 issue of Ambulatory Surgery Compliance and Reimbursement Insider in an article regarding recent recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Inspector General regarding Medicare reimbursement for ambulatory surgery centers.
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Reimbursement/Fraud & Abuse
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the January 20 issue of amednews.com, an online publication of the American Medical Association's "American Medical News," in an article regarding Medicare payments to ambulatory surgery centers.
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Reimbursement/Fraud & Abuse
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the January 2003 issue of Ambulatory Surgery Compliance and Reimbursement Insider, a publication of Brownstone Publishers, Inc., in an article about the 2003 Outpatient Prospective Payment System Update.
Eric Zimmerman, Health, Health Ventures/Physician Transactions, Reimbursement/Fraud & Abuse
2001
Eric Zimmerman was quoted in the November 2001 edition of Same Day Surgery, an American Health Consultants publication, in regard to provided based status.
