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New Medicare Billing Rules: What MFTs, MHCs, and IOP Providers Need to Know

Client Alert

Starting January 1, 2024, Medicare began covering services provided to Medicare beneficiaries by marriage and family therapists, mental health counselors, and Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) services. With this change, Medicare has become the primary payer for these services. 

To allow providers time to enroll in Medicare, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) and MyCare Ohio plans have continued to pay claims for these services for Medicaid enrollees with dual Medicare and Medicaid eligibility through June 30, 2024. Once providers are enrolled with Medicare, claims must be submitted to Medicare before the provider seeks cost-sharing reimbursement from Medicaid.

In compliance with these updates, ODM recently announced updates to its Medicare and Third-Party Liability Bypass List, effective July 1, 2024. The Bypass List, organized by procedure code, indicates which provider types may bypass Medicare and bill Medicaid directly. The list has been updated to reflect the small set of provider types now eligible to bypass Medicare.

Please contact BMD Healthcare Member Daphne Kackloudis at dlkackloudis@bmdllc.com or Attorney Jordan Burdick at jaburdick@bmdllc.com with any questions.


The Second Wave of UnitedHealthcare's Prior Authorization Cuts Started in November

In August 2023, UnitedHealthcare released its plan to eliminate roughly one-fifth of its then-current prior authorization requirements. The first round of prior authorization cuts took effect on September 1, 2023. In that round, UnitedHealthcare eliminated the necessity for some prior authorizations for UnitedHealthcare Medicare Advantage, UnitedHealthcare commercial, UnitedHealthcare Oxford and UnitedHealthcare Individual Exchange plan members. The second and final round of prior authorization cuts began on November 1, 2023. The November 2023 Prior Authorization Cuts apply to the same plans as well as community plans (i.e., Medicaid managed care plans).

Legal Uncertainties Remain Following Passage of Issue 1 in Ohio

In the November 2023 General Election, Ohio voters passed Issue 1 which, among other things, “[e]stablish[es] in the Constitution of the State of Ohio an individual right to one’s own reproductive medical treatment, including but not limited to abortion”. Despite passage of Issue 1, questions persist about how its codification on December 7 affects previously passed legislation restricting abortion and related pending court cases.

NLRB Issues Final Rule on Joint-Employer Status

On October 26, 2023, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued its final rule on determining joint-employer status, departing from its prior 2020 standard. The final rule provides that two or more entities may be considered “joint employers” if each entity has an employment relationship with employees and if the entities share or codetermine one or more employees’ essential terms and conditions of employment. The final rule goes into effect on December 26, 2023, and will only be applied to cases filed after the effective date.

WEBINAR SERIES RECAP | Employment & Labor

BMD Partner and Co-Chair of the Employment & Labor Law Group, Bryan Meek, presented this four-part webinar series on trending topics in employment law.

Ohio Legalizes Recreational Marijuana; What’s Next for Ohio Employers?