The farm bill was created as a temporary hand out to farmers created during the Depression, but now it's practically a permanent legislative fixture â a massive spending bill Congress passes every five years. Farm bill spending reached record levels in 2000, paying out $24.7 billion in subsidies.
Medicare contracted with the Omaha, Neb.-based StrategicHealthSolutions to serve as a Medicare supplemental medical review contractor (SMRC) in 2012 to âidentify and employ more efficient methods of medical review, such as data extrapolationâ and lower improper payments for fee-for-service claims, according to its website.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) designed the PQRS to improve the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries by tracking practice patterns. Since 2007, quality reporting has been voluntary for services furnished to Medicare Part B Fee-for-Service (FFS) beneficiaries. The ACA made participation in Medicare's PQRS program mandatory beginning in 2015.