Psychiatric News
Letters to the Editor

Medicare G Codes

The February 21 issue reported that a workshop by coding experts would be offered to familiarize members with the new Medicare G codes. These are 24 new codes based on four CPT codes that have caused many of us to scratch our heads in puzzlement.

I'd favor a somewhat different approach (and perhaps one more consistent with the ideas of our current APA president, Dr. Harold Eist): Take the bureaucratic thugs of Medicare to court. They should be made to demonstrate that these new, more complex G codes are necessary for proper reimbursement, and that they are not merely a useless elaboration of "process" designed to obstruct and delay the outflow of Medicare funds.

Unfortunately, the medical community's traditional response to government bureaucrats has been to follow Neville Chamberlain's "peace-at-any-price" approach. This should change.

Gerald W. Grument, M.D.

Rochester, N.Y.

(Psychiatric News, May 16, 1997)