Physicians have until March 17 to change their Medicare participation status for 2010, meaning that physicians who have not already changed their status can still do so and those who have already made changes can still retract them. It is possible, however, that Medicare may need to extend the participation deadline again if Congress acts to postpone the 21 percent physician pay cut before it takes effect on March 1.

The effective date of any decision will ultimately be retroactive to January 1, 2010. Participation decisions are binding for one year, unless physicians choose to opt-out entirely. Once you opt out, you cannot opt back in for two years.

Be aware that because changes in participation status are retroactive to January 1, physicians who switch from “nonparticipating” to “participating” will have to refund to patients any balance billing collected between January 1, 2010, and their new decision date.

For more information on physicians’ Medicare participation options, see CMA On-Call document #0151, “Medicare Participation (and Nonparticipation) Options.” On-Call documents are free to members on the members-only website. Nonmembers can purchase On-Call documents for $2 per page at the CMA Bookstore.

Contact: Michele Kelly, 213/226-0338 or mkelly@cmanet.org.