January 2008
House Passes AMT Relief Without
Offsetting
Tax Increases
On December 19, 2007, the House abandoned its commitment to pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) budget rules and passed
an alternative minimum tax (AMT) bill that will provide tax
relief to 23 million Americans in 2008. By a vote of 352-64,
the House passed the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2007,
which is the tax-free version of AMT relief that the Senate
approved by an 88-5 margin on December 6, 2007.
Read more...
Dividing Practice Income
To avoid creating friction, a medical practice needs a fair and reasonable
formula for splitting its income. Agreement requires compromise—and finding
a good compensation arrangement may not be easy. Income splitting
arrangements range from equal division to a pure productivity approach, with
many possible variations in between.
Read more...
Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension
Act of 2007
On Saturday, December 29, 2007, the president signed the Medicare, Medicaid
and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, which replaces the 10.1 percent reduction
in Medicare Part B payments scheduled for 2008 with a six-month, 0.5 percent
increase. Physicians will again face a reduction in Part B payments in July
2008 unless Congress once again intervenes. For more information, we
recommend the MGMA Washington Connexion article, "President signs
legislation delaying Medicare cuts for 6 months."
Click
here to go to the article on MGMA's web site.
Indiana Department of Insurance
Bulletin #159, PCF Surcharge Rates
On December 13, 2007,
the Indiana Department of Insurance released Bulletin #159 regarding Patient
Compensation Fund (PCF) Surcharge Rates. It states that the PCF related to
malpractice insurance will decrease by 19.1 percent starting March 1, 2008.
Read more...
Somerset Health Care Team News
Succession Planning for ASCs.
Steve Dobias, CPA's (pictured left) article, "How to Create Your
Succession Plan—Managing
the value of ownership interests lets investors cash out and buy in"
was published in the January 2008 issue of
Outpatient
Surgery magazine.
Read more...
What Is the Right Accounting
Software Solution for Your Practice? If you’re currently using Peachtree
or QuickBooks but see a need for a more powerful solution to handle your
expanding specialties and locations, then Sage MAS 90 Small Business
might be right for you! This special version of MAS 90 provides conveniently
bundled modules that make it easy and cost-effective to get started. On
February 12, 2008, Lauren Duffy
of Somerset's
Information Solutions Team, will host a demonstration of the software in
our offices. Visit the
Seminars
page of our website for more details and to register.
Strategies
for Maximizing Income.
Mike McCaslin,
CPA (pictured right) along with Richard E. Strain, Jr.,
M.D.; Jayme R. Matchinski, JD; and David A Halsey, M.D. (moderator),
participated in an American Academy of
Orthopaedic Surgeons sponsored panel discussion called "Strategies for
Maximizing Income." If you would
like to order an MP3 or CD of this program, you can
visit
the AAOS web site.
Coding and Billing Education.
Somerset has joined in a strategic partnership with Newby Consulting,
Inc. As a part of this partnership, we would like to pass along information
on their coding and billing continuing education sessions slated for 2008.
One is an
intensive advanced CPT and ICD-9-CM coding course teaching the American
Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC) curriculum for coding certification, and the other is a
one-day session on
surviving coding and billing for Medicare services,
which also covers new CPT codes for 2008. This program has been
granted 6 CEUs by the AAPC. Newby Consulting
always conducts programs that are timely, informative and fun.
Health Care Commentaries is provided by Somerset’s Health Care Team for our clients and other interested persons upon request. Since technical information is presented in generalized fashion, no final conclusion on these topics should be made without further review. For additional information on the issues discussed, please contact a member of our Health Care Team. This document is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer.
Somerset CPAs, P.C.
3925 River Crossing Parkway, Third Floor
Indianapolis, Indiana 46240
317.472.2200 • 800.469.7206 • FAX 317.208.1200
http://healthcare.somersetcpas.com