Happy New Year! January 2025 RMA and OHIP Updates
- 6 min read
Every month, RMA compiles and summarizes the most important OHIP billing updates and RMA news for your convenience. January’s news is summarized below.
Temporary Increases for Physician Services Payments
INFOBulletin #241204 announced an agreement between the ministry and the OMA as part of the 2024-2028 Physician Service Agreement (PSA) to implement an interim ATB 9.95% compensation increase for services rendered between January 1, 2025 and March 31, 2025 for Year 1 of the agreement. This will be in addition to the temporary 2.8% increase from year 3 of the previous PSA for a total compounded compensation increase of 13.0286% for fee-for-service payments.
The Schedule of Benefits will not be updated for the temporary increase. Instead, the ministry has provided the following fee code tables with the temporary increase.
- Fee Code Table 1: Increases by Fee Schedule Code – Physician Services
- Fee Code Table 2: Increases by Fee Schedule Code – Technical and Professional
RMA’s Fee Schedule Master has been updated to reflect the new fees for services rendered between January 1, 2025 and March 31, 2025 as such RMA’s computer pricing of OHIP codes will be driven by the service date.
Temporary Increase for Primary Care and Alternate Payment Programs
INFOBulletin #241203 announced as part of the 2024-2028 Physician Service Agreement (PSA), primary care and alternate payment programs will also receive a temporary increase for services rendered between January 1, 2025 and March 31, 2025 for Year 1 of the agreement
Education and Prevention Committee Billing Brief
The MOH released an Education and Prevention Committee (EPC) billing brief to provide a reminder of the three-month claim submission period and guidance on claim submissions beyond the three-month claim submission period. Within the EPC billing brief you will find the following:
- Definition of an extenuating circumstance that would affect the provider’s ability to submit their claims to OHIP within the claim submission period.
- How to submit a stale-date exemption request for new claims submitted beyond the three-month claim submission due to an extenuating circumstance.
- Scenario based examples of claims originally submitted within the three-month period that subsequently reject to the error report and resubmitted after the three-month period.
2024 Payment Summary
Payment summaries for the 2024 calendar year (January 1, 2024 – December 31, 2024) will be released at the end of February 2025. This document summarizes the payments that were deposited to you from RMA during this time period. These statements will aid you in your tax preparation for unincorporated physicians and those with a corporate year end date of December 31st. In order to obtain your payment summary logon to the RMA portal, click “My RMA Reports” (on the left hand tool bar), click “Annual Payment Summaries.” You will see “RMA 2024 Payment Summary” once the payment summary has been posted. If you have forgotten your logon credentials, please reach out to Tania Marini ciccagl@mcmaster.ca
Paging Services Fee Increase
Health Information Technology Services at HHS has informed us of an increase in paging services as of January 1, 2025. This adjustment, the first in over fifteen years, is necessary due to increased operating costs, Please see below for changes:
Service | Current Cost | January 1/25 |
Paging file – reach via pager | $20 per month | $30 per month |
Paging file – reach via calling cell phone | $20 per month | $30 per month |
Paging file – reach via SMAP user (Appear Lite app) | $20 per month | $25 per month |
Paging file – reach via web paging (text/email to your cell phone) | $20 per month + web connection $5 per month ($25) | $30 per month + web connection $10 per month ($40) |
Pager – short range rental | $15 per month | $20 per month |
Pager – short range purchase | $225 one-time fee | $275 one-time fee |
SMAP license (10 year transferrable) | $130 | $150 |
As a reminder, paging services are a fixed ABE (allowed business expense) which RMA typically pays on the behalf of physicians enrolled in RMA’s ABE service. Should you wish to make any changes to your paging services or have any questions you may reach out to Mitch Salisbury (salisbum@mcmaster.ca).
Special Reminder Regarding ABE Submissions
As the new year is approaching please remember that all expense submissions must be submitted to RMA within one year of being incurred. For example, an expense that was paid for on December 1, 2023 must be submitted no later than December 1, 2024. Expenses that are submitted outside of the one year time period will be reimbursed on a case-by-case basis and can lead to either a delay in reimbursement or denied reimbursement.
2024 Tax Preparation
Tax preparation services are a part of your Allowed Business Expenses (ABE’s). These services are meant for RMA members only and not for your family or spouse. If you have several tax returns prepared by the same accountant, please ensure your invoice is itemized.
Note: these invoices will be paid only if there are sufficient funds remaining in your 2024/2025 variable ABE account. Please reach out to Mitch Salisbury (Salisbum@mcmaster.ca) to find out the remaining balance in your variable ABE account.
Please send your invoice for payment to Mitch Salisbury at RMA or via email Salisbum@mcmaster.ca
OMA 2025 Dues Renewal
The OMA renewal process will begin on January 13, 2025 at which time you will also receive a renewal email. Your 2025 OMA renewal application must be completed online. Payment can be made through RMA as usual. OMA dues are a Fixed ABE and OMA constituency fees are Variable ABE’s.
Members can click on the “Pay dues and constituency fees”. Total amounts due will show at the chosen payment method. Take a screen shot and indicate your OMA number and send all the information via email to Mitch Salisbury, salisbum@mcmaster.ca.
Alternatively, you can pay your dues online by credit card and submit your receipt for reimbursement. If you have any questions, please contact Mitch Salisbury at ext. 26680 or salisbum@mcmaster.ca.
2025 CMPA Fee
You should have received an email from CMPA regarding your 2025 CMPA fees. Under payment method at the bottom left of your invoice you will see your payment options stated as one of three below:
Annual pre-authorize debit
Annual payment will be debited from your bank account on May 1 annually and participating in the MLP malpractice program receiving your CMPA rebate from the MOHLTC every April under option “A”.
Monthly pre-authorize debit
Monthly payments will be debited from your bank account on the 20th of each month. You should be participating in the MLP malpractice program receiving your CMPA rebate quarterly from the MOHLTC every April, July, October and January under option “B”
Annual Online payment
Payment is due online by January 1 each year. You should be participating in the MLP malpractice program receiving your CMPA rebate every April from the MOHLTC under option “A”.
For physicians with an Allowable Business Expense account you can send your CMPA Statement of Account after your payment has been made and either your CMPA Statement of Reimbursement or a copy of your CMPA rebate letter showing the amount you received. Please note, without the CMPA rebate letter RMA will not be able to reimburse your CMPA fees until the CMPA reimbursement schedule is released. As a reminder RMA reimburses your out-of-pocket expense which is CMPA fees less the CMPA rebate.
2025 Malpractice Rebate Program (CMPA Rebate)
Physicians receive reimbursement confirmation letters in the mail prior to their reimbursement being deposited confirming the amount and deposit date. If you need to change your banking information for your 2025 deposit please fill out this form and send along with your new banking information to the MLP reimbursement program. You can email it to them directly and they will send you an email confirmation reply.
For more information...
RMA has over 40 years of experience and expertise in the medical billing field. Our staff is always happy to help update physicians on the latest billing news. If you want more specific information on each INFOBulletin, check out the official website.
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