12VAC30-80-190. State agency fee schedule for RBRVS.

A. Reimbursement of fee-for-service providers. Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 1995, the Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS) shall reimburse fee-for-service providers, with the exception of home health services (see 12VAC30-80-180) and durable medical equipment services (see 12VAC30-80-30), using a fee schedule that is based on a Resource Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS).

B. Fee schedule.

1. For those services or procedures which are included in the RBRVS published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as amended from time to time, DMAS' fee schedule shall employ the Relative Value Units (RVUs) developed by CMS as periodically updated.

a. Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2008, DMAS shall implement site of service differentials and employ both non-facility and facility RVUs. The implementation shall be budget neutral using the methodology in subsection 2 below. 

b. The implementation of site of service shall be transitioned over a four-year period.

(1) Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2008, DMAS shall calculate the transitioned facility RVU by adding 75 percent of the difference between the facility RVU and non-facility RVU to the facility RVU. 

(2) Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2009, DMAS shall calculate the transitioned facility RVU by adding 50 percent of the difference between the facility RVU and non-facility RVU to the facility RVU.

(3) Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2010, DMAS shall calculate the transitioned facility RVU by adding 25 percent of the difference between the facility RVU and non-facility RVU to the facility RVU.

(4) Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2011, DMAS shall use the unadjusted Medicare facility RVU.

2. DMAS shall calculate the RBRVS-based fees using conversion factors (CFs) published from time to time by CMS. DMAS shall adjust CMS' CFs by additional factors so that no change in expenditure will result solely from the implementation of the RBRVS-based fee schedule. DMAS may revise the additional factors when CMS updates its RVUs or CFs so that no change in expenditure will result solely from such updates. Except for this adjustment, DMAS' CFs shall be the same as those published from time to time by CMS. The calculation of the additional factors shall be based on the assumption that no change in services provided will occur as a result of these changes to the fee schedule. The determination of the additional factors required above shall be accomplished by means of the following calculation:

a. The estimated amount of DMAS expenditures if DMAS were to use Medicare's RVUs and CFs without modification, is equal to the sum, across all relevant procedure codes, of the RVU value published by the CMS, multiplied by the applicable conversion factor published by the CMS, multiplied by the number of occurrences of the procedure code in DMAS patient claims in the most recent period of time (at least six months).

b. The estimated amount of DMAS expenditures, if DMAS were not to calculate new fees based on the new CMS RVUs and CFs, is equal to the sum, across all relevant procedure codes, of the existing DMAS fee multiplied by the number of occurrences of the procedures code in DMAS patient claims in the period of time used in subdivision 2 a of this subsection.

c. The relevant additional factor is equal to the ratio of the expenditure estimate (based on DMAS fees in subdivision 2 b of this subsection) to the expenditure estimate based on unmodified CMS values in subdivision 2 a of this subsection.

d. DMAS shall calculate a separate additional factor for:

(1) Emergency room services (defined as the American Medical Association's (AMA) publication of the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes 99281, 99282, 99283, 99284, and 992851 in effect at the time the service is provided);

(2) Obstetrical/gynecological services (defined as maternity care and delivery procedures, female genital system procedures, obstetrical/gynecological-related radiological procedures, and mammography procedures, as defined by the American Medical Association's (AMA) publication of the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) manual in effect at the time the service is provided);

(3) Pediatric preventive services (defined as preventive E&M procedures, excluding those listed in subdivision 2 d (1) of this subsection, as defined by the AMA's publication of the CPT manual, in effect at the time the service is provided, for recipients under age 21);

(4) Pediatric primary services (defined as evaluation and management (E&M) procedures, excluding those listed in subdivisions 2 d (1) and 2 d (3) of this subsection, as defined by the AMA's publication of the CPT manual, in effect at the time the service is provided, for recipients under age 21);

(5) Adult primary and preventive services (defined as E&M procedures, excluding those listed in subdivision 2 d (1) of this subsection, as defined by the AMA's publication of the CPT manual, in effect at the time the service is provided, for recipients age 21 and over); and

(6) All other procedures set through the RBRVS process combined.

3. For those services or procedures for which there are no established RVUs, DMAS shall approximate a reasonable relative value payment level by looking to similar existing relative value fees. If DMAS is unable to establish a relative value payment level for any service or procedure, the fee shall not be based on a RBRVS, but shall instead be based on the previous fee-for-service methodology.

4. Fees shall not vary by geographic locality.

5. Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2007, fees for emergency room services (defined in subdivision 2 d ­(1) of this subsection) shall be increased by 5.0% relative to the fees that would otherwise be in effect.

C. Effective for dates of service on or after May 1, 2006, fees for obstetrical/gynecological services (defined in subdivision B 2 d (2) of this section) shall be increased by 2.5% relative to the fees in effect on July 1, 2005.

D. Effective for dates of service on or after May 1, 2006, fees for pediatric services (defined in subdivisions B 2 d (3) and (4) of this section) shall be increased by 5.0% relative to the fees in effect on July 1, 2005. Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2006, fees for pediatric services (defined in subdivisions B 2 d (3) and (4) of this section) shall be increased by 5.0% relative to the fees in effect on May 1, 2006. Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2007, fees for pediatric primary services (defined in subdivision B 2 d (4) of this section) shall be increased by 10% relative to the fees that would otherwise be in effect.

E. Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2007, fees for pediatric preventive services (defined in subdivision B 2 d (3) of this section) shall be increased by 10% relative to the fees that would otherwise be in effect.

F. Effective for dates of service on or after May 1, 2006, fees for adult primary and preventive services (defined in subdivision B 2 d (4) of this section) shall be increased by 5.0% relative to the fees in effect on July 1, 2005. Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2007, fees for adult primary and preventive services (defined in subdivision B 2 d (5) of this section) shall be increased by 5.0% relative to the fees that would otherwise be in effect.

G. Effective for dates of service on or after July 1, 2007, fees for all other procedures set through the RBRVS process combined (defined in subdivision B 2 d (6) of this section) shall be increased by 5.0% relative to the fees that would otherwise be in effect.

Statutory Authority

§§32.1-324 and 32.1-325 of the Code of Virginia.

Historical Notes

Derived from VR460-02-4.1924; July 1, 1995; amended, Virginia Register Volume 11, Issue 26, eff. October 18, 1995; Volume 21, Issue 7, eff. January 12, 2005; Volume 21, Issue 23, eff. September 1, 2005; Volume 22, Issue 14, eff. May 1, 2006; Volume 23, Issue 19, eff. July 1, 2007; Volume 23, Issue 20, eff. July 11, 2007; Volume 23, Issue 20, eff. August 25, 2007.