CMS has announced inflation-adjusted de minimis reporting thresholds for 2018 under the Open Payments/Physician Payments Sunshine Act program. Specifically, payments or transfers of value of less than $10.49 do not need to be reported in 2018, except when the total annual value of payments or other transfers of value to a covered recipient exceeds $104.90. … Continue Reading
CMS has posted preliminary Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule rates for 2018 – the first year rates will be based on private payer data under the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA). CMS estimates that 2018 Medicare Part B payments will be reduced by about $670 million for calendar year 2018. In fact, … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a “new direction” for the CMS Innovation Center that is intended to “promote patient-centered care and test market-driven reforms.” The goal of these reforms – which may be tested on a smaller scale than current innovation models – is to “empower beneficiaries as consumers, provide price … Continue Reading
In order to protect Medicare beneficiaries from fraud and identity theft, CMS has unveiled a new Medicare card that removes the beneficiary’s Social Security number from the card. Specifically, the current Social Security-based number – the Health Insurance Claim Number or HICN – is being replaced with a randomly-assigned Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI) beginning in … Continue Reading
The CMS Chief Actuary has officially determined that the projected Medicare per capita growth rate will not exceed the target that would require the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) to submit plans to reduce 2019 Medicare per-capita spending. Under the Affordable Care Act, if the threshold is breached, IPAB must submit detailed Medicare spending cut … Continue Reading
CMS has published a final rule that modifies PERM and MEQC regulations to align with changes to how states adjudicate Medicaid and CHIP eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). According to CMS, the policy revisions are intended to “reduce state burden, improve program integrity, and promote state accountability.” Among other things, the rule changes … Continue Reading
CMS has scheduled two days of meeting this summer on updates to the Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule (CLFS) for 2018. First, the public meeting on payment amounts for new or substantially revised HCPCS codes being considered for Medicare payment under the 2018 CLFS will be held on July 31, 2017. This meeting also will … Continue Reading
CMS expects nearly 100% of eligible clinicians in Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs) to meet the Medicare Qualifying APM Participant (QP) standard for performance year 2017 and be eligible to receive a 5% APM incentive payment in 2019 under Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) rules. This projection is based on an … Continue Reading
CMS has announced that states may take an additional three years — until March 17, 2022 — to demonstrate compliance with the Medicaid home and community based services (HCBS) settings criteria established in a January 16, 2014 final rule. In a memo to states announcing this extension, CMS cites the “difficult and complex nature” of … Continue Reading
CMS has announced revised Medicare durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) fee schedule amounts for the period of July through December 2016, as required by the 21st Century Cures Act. By way of background, the Affordable Care Act mandated that CMS use pricing information from competitive bidding to adjust certain DMEPOS fee schedule … Continue Reading
CMS has released its 2018 Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D Rate Announcement and Call Letter. CMS estimates that plan revenues will increase by 0.45 percent in 2018; when coding acuity is considered, plans can expect a total revenue change of 2.95 percent. CMS also adopted provisions intended to reduce opioid misuse under Medicare Part … Continue Reading
CMS has released a new Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (SRDP) Form for disclosing actual or potential violations of the physician self-referral law (known as the “Stark Act”) under CMS’s existing self-disclosure process. According to CMS, the streamlined and standardized format “will reduce the burden on providers and suppliers submitting disclosures to the SRDP” and facilitate CMS … Continue Reading
CMS has announced that it is “pausing” its Pre-Claim Review demonstration in Illinois for at least 30 days, effective April 1, 2017, and it is not expanding the demonstration to Florida in April as previously planned. During this pause period, Medicare contractors will not accept additional pre-claim review requests; instead, home health claims will be … Continue Reading
CMS is reminding Medicare- and Medicaid-participating providers and suppliers that they will be expected to comply with training and testing requirements included in a September 2016 emergency preparedness final rule by November 15, 2017. In particular, CMS warns providers and suppliers not to wait for interpretive guidance to begin planning emergency exercises, since those who … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has just announced that it is extending until May 30, 2017 the deadline for certain clinical laboratories to report to CMS private payor reimbursement information. As required by the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA) and its implementing regulations, this data will be used to … Continue Reading
CMS is seeking input from stakeholders on how it should use data from the durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) competitive bidding program to adjust (cut) Medicare DMEPOS fee schedule amounts outside of bidding areas (CBAs), as required by the 21st Century Cures Act. The Cures Act mandates that CMS take such stakeholder … Continue Reading
CMS is seeking public input on ways to improve the quality and reduce the cost of care for children and youth enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). In particular, CMS is interested in comments on topics such as: The potential to include the pediatric population in integrated service model concepts like … Continue Reading
CMS is soliciting applications for 2018 Next Generation ACOs, an Innovation Center initiative intended to promote Medicare quality improvement and care coordination. Letters of intent are due May 4, 2017. CMS is holding a series of calls to discuss the model and the application process, including the following: March 14, 2017: Application Overview and Participating … Continue Reading
CMS has released its 2018 Advance Notice and Call Letter, which outline proposed updates to Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D plan reimbursement methodologies and policies. CMS notes that it its proposed policies focus on four major outcomes: (1) improvement in quality of care for individuals, (2) promotion of alternative payment models, (3) program integrity … Continue Reading
One week after unveiling the next round of Medicare durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) competitive bidding, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a “temporary delay” in order “to allow the new administration further opportunity to review the program.” Specifically, on January 31, 2017, CMS revealed plans for “Round … Continue Reading
CMS has scheduled an April 25, 2017 call to discuss new data reporting requirements for clinicians in selected states who furnish global surgery services, as authorized by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). Specifically, the 2017 Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS) final rule established a data reporting requirement for practitioners furnishing specified global … Continue Reading
CMS recently released guidance on how hospitals can request from their CMS Regional Office a relocation exception from site-neutral payment rates for an excepted off-campus department of a provider due to an extraordinary circumstance, in conformance with the 2017 Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule. A separate CMS document discusses implementation of 21st Century … Continue Reading
The CMS Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) continues to launch initiatives to test ways to improve the quality of health care while controlling cost, despite an uncertain fate under the future Trump Administration and Republican-controlled Congress. Specifically, two new CMMI Beneficiary Engagement and Incentives (BEI) Models seek to promote “shared decision making,” which … Continue Reading
Hospitals are facing a March 8, 2017 deadline to begin using the new Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) to inform Medicare beneficiaries when they are outpatients receiving observation services and not inpatients of the hospital. The notice is required by the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility Act (NOTICE Act). … Continue Reading
