As technology has advanced over the years, there has been a corresponding push for virtual visits with health care providers. In fact, many state boards of medicine and other regulatory agencies have sought to amend regulations and guidances to make telehealth a reality for patients across the U.S. However, despite the technical allowance for telehealth, … Continue Reading
A final rule published by the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) significantly scales back nondiscrimination regulations first released in 2016. The final rule, which was published in the Federal Register on June 19, 2020, implements Section 1557 of the … Continue Reading
On May 21, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued additional guidance, by again updating its FAQs, for Medicare providers and suppliers (collectively, providers) receiving relief from the Public Health and Social Services Emergency Fund. Of the $175 billion appropriated by Congress, HHS has allocated $50 billion for general distribution to … Continue Reading
Following more than a month of silence from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the publication of its widely anticipated companion interoperability and information blocking final rules to the Federal Register, HHS’s Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), … Continue Reading
As discussed in our client alert, recent legal developments have greatly expanded funding for and access to telehealth services during the COVID-19 crisis. Among the changes instituted by HHS are expanded Medicare coverage and payment for services, reduced or waived cost-sharing obligations for physicians, and loosening of the HIPAA enforcement policies for covered entities (which … Continue Reading
Shortly after President Trump declared a national emergency related to COVID-19, CMS issued blanket waivers under section 1135 of the Social Security Act that are intended to ensure there are sufficient health care items and services available to meet the increased need, as well as reduce related administrative burdens on health care providers. Our comprehensive … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued eagerly anticipated and hotly debated companion interoperability and information blocking final rules that are expected to transform the way in which certain health care providers, health information technology (IT) developers, and health plans share patient information. The two rules, issued by the HHS Office of … Continue Reading
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently released official diagnosis coding guidance for health care encounters and deaths related to the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19), potentially in anticipation of more frequent cases in the United States. The guidance identifies specific ICD-10-CM codes to be used to code encounters. CDC advises that patients presenting … Continue Reading
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), although there have been imported cases of Covid-19 detected in the United States, “at this time, the virus is NOT currently spreading in the community in the United States.”[1] However, on Tuesday, February 25, 2020, Nancy Messonier, the CDC’s Director of National Center for … Continue Reading
The Trump Administration’s proposed fiscal year (FY) 2021 budget calls for significant cuts to federal health spending, including a 10% decrease in Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) discretionary spending in FY 2021 and a $1.6 trillion net reduction in health entitlements over the next decade. House Budget Committee leaders have blasted the HHS … Continue Reading
The novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV, also known as “SARS-CoV-2”) has been declared a public health emergency (PHE) by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This designation authorizes HHS to direct funding to: (1) enable the dissemination of information about the virus; (2) encourage research and development of diagnostic and treatment techniques; (3) improve … Continue Reading
Health policy has been the focus of several House Energy and Commerce Committee hearings this month. Notably, the Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee held its first legislative hearing on cannabis policy, although much of the hearing focused on the status of marijuana research under the Controlled Substances Act, as discussed in a recent Reed Smith … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will increase Medicare inpatient psychiatric facility (IPF) prospective payment system (PPS) payments by 1.5%, or $65 million, in fiscal year (FY) 2020 under a recently-published final rule. The final FY 2020 market basket increase is 2.9%, which is reduced by two statutory reductions for an IPF payment … Continue Reading
As part of its continuing “Patients over Paperwork” initiative, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released another request for information (RFI) on regulatory or subregulatory changes the agency could make to “reduce unnecessary administrative burdens for clinicians, providers, patients and their families.” In particular, CMS seeks new ideas for: Streamlining reporting requirements, … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services filed a Notice of Enforcement Decision on Friday, April 26, 2019, announcing a new system of annual penalty limits for HIPAA violations based on an entity’s level of culpability. The agency revised its previous interpretation of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its final Medicare physician fee schedule (PFS) rule for calendar year (CY) 2019. In addition to updating rates for physician services, the rule adopts changes to numerous other Medicare Part B policies. Highlights of the final rule include the following: The final 2019 conversion factor … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) rates and policies for calendar year 2019. Notably, CMS adopted some – but not all – of its proposed policies intended to promote more “site-neutral payments” for different types of providers. Hospital Outpatient … Continue Reading
President Trump has nominated Alex Azar to be Secretary of Health and Human Services, which would fill the vacancy created when Tom Price, MD resigned the post in September. Mr. Azar, an attorney who previously served in senior HHS positions and as a pharmaceutical industry executive, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Health, Education, … Continue Reading
CMS has published its final rule to update the Medicare acute hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment system (PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2018. Acute Hospital Rate & Policy Updates CMS projects that the rate and policy changes in the rule will increase total IPPS payments by about … Continue Reading
Rule Would Delay Appropriate Use Criteria Requirement until 2019, Cut Rates for Off-Campus Hospital Departments The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published its proposed rule to update the Medicare physician fee schedule (PFS) for calendar year (CY) 2018. The proposed rule addresses numerous Medicare policies, including: implementation of appropriate use criteria (AUC) … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published a final rule intended to help improve the risk pool and stabilize the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Insurance Exchanges for 2018 – even as CMS contends that consumers “have faced double-digit premium increases, fewer plans to choose from, and a market that continues to be threatened … Continue Reading
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is once again applying an inflation increase to maximum civil monetary penalty (CMP) amounts for HHS agencies and programs – less than five months after the last inflation hike and notwithstanding the Trump Administration’s recently-announced regulatory freeze. Specifically, in a final rule to be published on February … Continue Reading
Immediately following Sunday’s tragic shooting at a nightclub in Orlando, friends and family frantically gathered at Orlando Regional Medical Center, attempting to get information about their loved ones. However, hospital officials hesitated to provide specific updates. Why? Because the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and implementing regulations restrict the patient-identifiable health information that … Continue Reading
On February 9, 2016, the Obama Administration released its proposed fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget, which contains significant Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and program integrity legislative proposals – including $419 billion in Medicare savings over 10 years. These proposed policy changes would require action by Congress, and Republican Congressional leaders have already voiced general opposition … Continue Reading
