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Recommended Federal Articles
CMS’s Rural Health Transformation Program provides $50 billion to states over five years, beginning in federal fiscal year 2026. Funding priorities include workforce development, technology, behavioral health access, chronic disease management, cybersecurity, and sustainable rural healthcare delivery.
Suggested closing: Rural healthcare organizations should continue monitoring how their states plan to distribute funding and what opportunities may become available.
Beginning August 3, 2026, providers submitting paper applications must use the revised CMS855B form. The revised form includes changes involving provider reassignments, telehealth practice locations, and certain Medicare enrollment reasons. Providers using PECOS can continue submitting enrollment changes electronically.
CMS implemented two Medicare Physician Fee Schedule conversion factors for 2026—one for qualifying Advanced Alternative Payment Model participants and another for nonqualifying practitioners. The final rule also includes changes affecting primary care, behavioral health integration, telehealth, and virtual supervision.
The 2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule created optional add-on codes supporting behavioral health integration and the psychiatric Collaborative Care Model when provided alongside Advanced Primary Care Management services. This reflects continued federal emphasis on integrating physical and behavioral healthcare.
DEA and HHS finalized policies supporting certain telemedicine prescribing flexibilities for buprenorphine treatment. Behavioral health and substance use treatment providers should review the applicable clinical, prescribing, documentation, and registration requirements before relying on telemedicine prescribing pathways.
Recommended Kentucky Articles
Kentucky Medicaid has advised Behavioral Health Services Organizations and Chemical Dependency Treatment Centers to update their national accreditation information in KY MPPA or request an applicable one-year extension. Incomplete accreditation information may result in a hard stop when an organization attempts to submit its application.
Kentucky Medicaid has clarified that providers required to enroll in Medicare cannot request a Kentucky Medicaid contract effective date earlier than their Medicare effective date. This applies to several provider types, including Rural Health Clinics. Organizations should carefully coordinate Medicare and Medicaid enrollment timelines.
Kentucky Medicaid generally sends revalidation notices 60 and 30 days before a provider’s deadline. Providers that fail to complete revalidation timely may have their Medicaid participation suspended. Organizations should ensure that contact information, licenses, ownership information, and KY MPPA access remain current.
Kentucky Medicaid has published the 2026 Behavioral Health Services Fee Schedule. Behavioral health organizations should review current rates and compare them with their billing systems, payer contracts, expected reimbursements, and actual remittance activity.
Kentucky Medicaid providers use KY MPPA to report license updates, ownership changes, address changes, EFT changes, name changes, group affiliations, and NPI or taxonomy changes. Failure to maintain accurate enrollment information can contribute to application delays or payment disruptions.
Kentucky Medicaid enrollment and maintenance
If your organization needs assistance understanding how an industry update may affect its operations, enrollment, billing, or compliance obligations, contact Signature South Consulting.
Frequently asked Questions
Signature South Consulting provides healthcare billing and revenue cycle management, credentialing and payer enrollment, compliance support, policy and procedure development, accreditation preparation, licensing assistance, and Rural Health Clinic start-up support.
We work with behavioral health and substance use treatment providers, Rural Health Clinics, primary care practices, and other healthcare organizations. Our services are tailored to each organization’s size, programs, and operational needs.
Yes. We assist organizations developing new Rural Health Clinics as well as established clinics seeking support with billing, credentialing, compliance, accreditation, and ongoing operations.
Accreditation preparation should begin as early as possible. Starting early allows time to review requirements, develop or update policies, organize supporting documentation, educate staff, and address areas needing improvement before the survey.
Yes. We assist with Medicare and Medicaid enrollment, commercial payer applications, provider credentialing, revalidations, and maintenance of payer enrollment information.
Yes. We offer ongoing billing, revenue cycle, credentialing, and compliance support based on each organization’s needs. Services may include claims management, accounts receivable follow-up, reimbursement review, compliance monitoring, policy updates, and survey-readiness assistance.