Congressional committees have held numerous hearings and markups in recent weeks on health policy topics, including several hearings focused on health care costs. Highlights include the following: … Continue Reading
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has issued its annual recommendations to Congress on updates to Medicare fee-for-service payment system rates, many of which overlap recommendations made in previous years. For instance, MedPAC continues to call for implementation of a unified prospective payment system (PPS) for post-acute care (PAC) providers, including skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), … Continue Reading
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released recommendations to Congress regarding how Medicare fee-for-service payment system rates should be adjusted in 2018. One of the focus areas for MedPAC is post-acute care (PAC), which includes skilled nursing facility (SNF), home health agency (HHA), inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF), and long-term care hospital (LTCH) services. According … Continue Reading
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a long-awaited final rule establishing emergency preparedness requirements for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating providers and suppliers to ensure that they can meet the needs of patients and residents during emergency situations, both natural and man-made. According to CMS, the final requirements “establish a comprehensive, consistent, flexible, … Continue Reading
On May 4, 2016, CMS is publishing a final rule amending fire safety standards applicable to the following types of Medicare- and Medicaid-participating health care facilities: hospitals, critical access hospitals, long-term care facilities, intermediate care facilities for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ICF-IIDs), ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), hospices that provide inpatient services, religious nonmedical health care … Continue Reading
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released its annual recommendations to Congress on Medicare policies, including Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) payment updates and a status report on the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D programs. The following are highlights of the recommendations for 2017 (some of which were recommended previously):… Continue Reading
On July 8, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its proposed rule to update the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and the Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System rates and policies for calendar year (CY) 2016. Perhaps most notably, CMS is proposing a -0.1% OPPS update for 2016, driven … Continue Reading
CMS recently sent several major proposed Medicare CY 2016 payment rules to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for regulatory clearance – the last step before publication in the Federal Register. Specifically, OMB is reviewing proposed rules to update the Medicare physician fee schedule, the hospital outpatient PPS/ambulatory surgical center payment update, … Continue Reading
The House of Representatives has taken action on a number of bills to modify certain Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions, revise Medicare Advantage policies, and make other health policy changes. On June 23, 2015, the House voted to approve H.R. 1190, a bill to repeal the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), by a vote of 244 to … Continue Reading
On February 26, 2015, the House Ways and Means Committee is scheduled to vote on the following bills: H.R. 1021, “Protecting the Integrity of Medicare Act of 2015” – a sweeping bill to promote Medicare program integrity and efficiency. Among many other things, the bill would: eliminate civil money penalties for inducements to physicians to … Continue Reading
Today CMS published a notice correcting its November 10, 2014 final rule updating the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and the Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System rates and policies for calendar year 2015. In addition to fixing various technical errors (e.g., status indicator and addenda corrections for specific codes), the notice increases the OPPS … Continue Reading
On December 12, 2014, CMS published a proposed rule to revise selected conditions of participation (CoPs) for providers, conditions for coverage (CfCs) for suppliers, and requirements for long-term care (LTC) facilities to conform with the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Windsor, and ensure that same-sex spouses in legally-valid marriages are recognized and afforded … Continue Reading
CMS is expected to publish several major final Medicare payment rules for 2015 in the coming days. The agency has already submitted to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for regulatory clearance the final 2015 rules updating Medicare payments for outpatient hospitals, ambulatory surgical centers, home health agencies, and end-stage renal disease … Continue Reading
On July 14, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its proposed rule to update the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and the Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System rates and policies for calendar year (CY) 2015. The following are highlights of this major rulemaking:… Continue Reading
On May 12, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule that reforms federal health policy regulations that CMS has identified as unnecessary, obsolete, or excessively burdensome on health care providers and suppliers. The rule also is intended to eliminate or reduce requirements that impede quality patient care or that … Continue Reading
This post was written by Paul Pitts and Thomas Greeson. CMS has put on display a final rule that reforms Medicare regulations that CMS has identified as unnecessary, obsolete, or excessively burdensome on health care providers and suppliers. Two provisions address imaging services offered in ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) and hospitals. Supervision of Radiology Services in ASCs … Continue Reading
On April 16, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule that would amend fire safety standards applicable to the following types of Medicare- and Medicaid-participating health care facilities: hospitals, critical access hospitals, long-term care facilities (skilled nursing facilities, nursing facilities, and distinct part skilled nursing facilities or nursing facilities), … Continue Reading
In a recent report, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) recommended that CMS limit Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) payments for procedures that can be safely performed in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC), given that ASC payments are typically lower than the corresponding OPPS payments. According to the OIG, Medicare would save … Continue Reading
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released its annual report to Congress on Medicare payment policy, including payment update recommendations for all the major Medicare fee-for-service payment (FFS) systems, limited recommendations related to the Medicare Advantage (MA) program, and a status report on the Medicare Part D program. The following are highlights of the … Continue Reading
On December 27, 2013, CMS published a proposed rule that would establish national emergency preparedness requirements for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating providers and suppliers to ensure that they can meet the needs of patients and residents during emergency situations, both natural and man-made. The proposed requirements cover four aspects of emergency preparedness: Risk assessment and planning: Providers and … Continue Reading
On December 10, 2013, CMS published a final rule that updates Medicare payment and other policies under the hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and the ambulatory surgical center (ASC) prospective payment system (PPS) for calendar year (CY) 2014. Key provisions of the final rule include the following:… Continue Reading
As a result of the partial government shutdown, CMS is warning that it may delay until late November a series of major final rules setting a wide range of Medicare payment rates and policies for 2014. While CMS usually releases the final calendar year updates by November 1st each year, CMS is now saying that the … Continue Reading
CMS has published a notice correcting technical errors that appeared in the July 19, 2013 proposed rule updating the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and the ambulatory surgical center payments for CY 2014. In addition to making revisions to specific ambulatory payment classifications, the technical corrections result in changes to the proposed OPPS … Continue Reading
On July 19, 2013, CMS published a proposed rule that would update Medicare outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) policies and rates for CY 2014. Key provisions of the proposed rule include the following:… Continue Reading
