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Increased Medicaid Rates to Take Effect This Month for Ohio Providers

Client Alert

As required by House Bill 33, Ohio’s 2024-2025 operating budget bill, reimbursement rates paid by the Ohio Department of Medicaid will increase for a wide range of providers starting on January 1, 2024. The rate increases total roughly $3.4 billion per year and apply to the following types of providers:

  • Non-institutional providers:
    • Ambulatory surgical centers / dialysis
    • Testing / lab / X-ray / durable medical equipment
    • Physicians / advanced practice registered nurses / physician assistants / clinics / skilled therapy
    • Vision and eye care
  • Community behavioral health providers
  • State plan private duty nursing / home health providers
  • Home and Community Based Services waiver providers:
    • PASSPORT waiver providers
    • Assisted living waiver providers
    • Ohio home care waiver providers
    • MyCare Ohio waiver providers
    • Individual Options waiver
    • Level 1 waiver providers
    • Self-Empowered Life Funding (SELF) waiver providers
  • Department of Developmental Disabilities providers

Beginning on January 1, 2024, the majority of the codes in the Ohio Medicaid fee schedule for non-institutional providers increased by 5% or more. Specifically, there was approximately a 5% increase for physicians, APRNs, PAs, clinics, skilled therapy providers, ambulatory surgical centers, laboratories, dialysis providers, X-ray providers, and DME providers. Additionally, there was a 5.7% dispensing fee rate increase for pharmacies, a 79% rate increase for transportation providers, and a 93% rate increase for dental providers. There was no rate increase for FQHCs. However, there was a 10% baseline rate increase for community behavioral health rates.

The increased reimbursement rates authorized by HB 33 apply to dates of service starting January 1, 2024, and beyond. Note that ODM will reimburse all services based on the date the service was rendered, not the date the provider bills for the service. ODM also reminded providers that, even after the rates are increased due to HB 33, providers must continue to charge their reasonable and customary rates regardless of anticipated reimbursement from the department. ODM’s fee schedules and rates are codified in the Ohio Administrative Code and accessible for providers on ODM’s website.

If you have questions about ODM’s reimbursement rate increases, please contact your local BMD Healthcare Attorneys Daphne Kackloudis at dlkackloudis@bmdllc.com or Ashley Watson at abwatson@bmdllc.com.


EKRA Updates: COVID-19 Testing, Employment Agreements, and More

Ever since the Eliminating Kickbacks in Recovery Act (“EKRA”) was passed by Congress in 2018, we have been waiting to see how the law is interpreted and ultimately enforced. As a reminder, EKRA seeks to eliminate kickbacks in return for patient referrals to facilities that treat those overcoming addiction, such as recovery homes, clinical treatment centers, and laboratories. (NOTE: EKRA applies to all laboratories, not just those related to addiction treatment.) It is essentially an expansion of the Anti-Kickback Statute, which only applies to those services that are reimbursable through federal healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, to now also cover services reimbursable through private insurers.

New Interpretation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act Rocks the Industry

It’s not lost on us that our interpretation of § 1692c(b) runs the risk of upsetting the status quo in the debt-collection industry. This quote from the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeal in its April 21, 2021 opinion from the case of Hunstein v. Preferred Collection and Management Services, Inc. is possibly the biggest understatement in the history of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act. At a minimum, the Eleventh Circuit’s opinion has sent shockwaves and fear throughout multiple sectors of the financial services industry.

Construction Industry Trends and Predictions Through 2021 and Beyond: Insurance and Emerging Threats

A 2021 survey identified three key issues impacting the construction industry in 2021: (1) the financial health of contractors; (2) the continuing risk of the pandemic; and (3) technology driving productivity, but also increasing the risk of cybersecurity threats. With this backdrop, insurance premiums in the construction industry are generally on the rise in 2021.

Senate Bill 39 Allows Up to $100 Million in Business Incentive Credits for Transformational Mixed-Use Development in the State of Ohio

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 39 on December 29, 2020, which created a new tax credit applicable to insurance premium taxes. This tax credit is designed to provide funding for a transformational mixed- use development or “TMUD” in the state of Ohio.

Medicaid Announces Next Generation of Managed Care Organizations

For the first time since 2005, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (“ODM”) made significant changes to the structure of the Medicaid program by finalizing the Medicaid Managed Care Procurement process. The Procurement process began in 2019 at the behest of Governor Mike DeWine who had a goal to make Medicaid managed care more focused on the health and well-being of individuals.