tci Part B Insider - 2007 Issue 7

PHYSICIAN NOTES: Is The AMA Discriminating Against Alternative Medicine?

Consumer choice doesn't extend to extra codes, critics chargeThe American Medical Association-s monopoly on physician codes may be restricting patients- ability to choose alternative treatments, critics charge.On Oct. 16, 2006, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) killed a project that Health & Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, initiated before his resignation at the end of President Bush-s first term. Thompson had authorized Alternative Link, the parent company of ABC Coding Solutions, to use its own code set for billing purposes in Alaska and New Mexico. For Alaska's 4,000 patients and 500 paraprofessionals who participated in...

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