New Postings on the Reed Smith Health Industry Washington Watch Blog
The Reed Smith Health Industry Washington Watch blog has been updated to discuss a variety of health policy developments, including the following:
- Legislative Developments. President Obama convened a bipartisan health reform summit. The House of Representatives has approved a bill to temporarily extend current physician fee schedule payments and extend the Medicare outpatient therapy cap exceptions process, along with legislation to repeal the antitrust exemption for health insurance companies. A number of recent hearings have focused on health policy issues.
- Other HHS Developments. CMS has released its Advance Notice of 2011 Medicare Advantage/Part D payments, extended a Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) reporting deadline, issued guidance on DME telemarketing, delayed its PECOS enrollment requirement for ordering physicians, and announced an organizational realignment. FDA has issued a proposed rule on reporting information on falsification of data, announced an initiative with NIH to speed patient access to new therapies, and updated its listing of specific drugs that are being evaluated for potential safety issues. HHS has announced relief for state Part D drug cost expenses, released the names of entities reporting certain breaches of protected health information, and has addressed enforcement of the HITECH business associate requirement.
- Health Industry Events. CMS is holding meetings/educational calls on DMEPOS competitive bidding, the PQRI and E-prescribing, Part D data, and HCPCS code applications. The FDA is hosting meetings on clinical trial requirements and reducing radiation exposure. HHS is hosting a workshop on the HIPAA Privacy Rule’s de-identification standard.
- OIG & GAO Reports. The OIG has issued reports on RAC fraud referrals and ASP reporting and pricing. The GAO has reported on electronic personal health information exchange.