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On February 23, 2022, a federal district court judge in Texas agreed with the Texas Medical Association that some provisions of the interim final rules implementing the No Surprises Act were promulgated in violation of the provisions of the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”). As a remedy, the court ordered those provisions vacated and remanded the affected rules back to the federal agencies for further consideration.

In a memorandum issued February 28, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, one of the federal agencies that promulgated the rule (along with the Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Internal Revenue Service) indicated that it was still reviewing the court’s decision and considering next steps, which could include an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Additionally, CMS said that it was withdrawing any guidance documents based on the invalidated sections and will launch revised guidance and training for certified independent dispute resolution (“IDR”) entities and parties subject to the process. Those guidance documents will be edited to conform to the court’s decision and republished. Important to providers, CMS emphasized that the court’s order does not affect its other rulemaking related to the No Surprises Act.
Continue Reading Portion of No Surprises Act IDR rule procedures set aside by federal district court

In a rare display of unity, President Donald Trump and bipartisan Congressional leaders have highlighted their shared commitment to tackling “surprise” medical billing – when an insured patient is subject to unexpectedly high out-of-pocket costs for out-of-network care that is beyond their control.  Such surprise billing can occur when a patient receives emergency care from…

As the new 116th Congress gets underway, four House and Senate committees are holding hearings to examine health policy issues, including two hearings focusing on prescription drug prices.  Specifically, the following hearings are all scheduled for January 29, 2019:

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By October 16, 2016, all health programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), those administered by HHS, and Health Insurance Marketplaces (Covered Entities), must be in compliance with the final pieces of the final rule issued by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued May 18…

The Obama Administration published final regulations on July 14, 2015 that implement Affordable Care Act requirements regarding coverage without cost sharing of certain preventive services, including contraceptive services. The regulations, jointly issued by the Departments of Health, Labor, and Treasury, finalize three earlier rulemakings:
Continue Reading Obama Administration Finalizes Regulations on ACA Coverage of Preventive Services, Including Contraceptive Services

The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Treasury published a final rule on March 18, 2015 that amends the definition of excepted benefits to allow group health plan sponsors, in limited circumstances, to offer wraparound coverage to individuals who are purchasing individual health insurance in the private market, including through the Affordable…

On October 23, 2014, CMS published the proposed methodology for determining federal payment amounts for states that elect to use the Basic Health Program to offer health benefits to low-income individuals otherwise eligible to purchase coverage through an Affordable Insurance Exchange/Marketplace for 2016. CMS proposes to use the same methodology in 2016 as was established…

On June 25, 2014, HHS and the Departments of Labor and Treasury are publishing a final rule addressing the treatment of employment orientation periods for purposes of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance coverage waiting period limitation. The ACA generally bars employer-sponsored group health plans and group health insurance issuers from imposing a…

A number of Congressional panels have focused on following health policy issues recently, including the following:

  • The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee examined various Medicare hospital issues, including the CMS two-midnights policy, short inpatient stays, outpatient observation stays, Recovery Audit Contractor audits, and the appeals backlog.
  • The House Energy and Commerce Committee held a

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Recent Congressional hearings on health policy issues include the following:

  • House Energy and Commerce Committee hearings on the “Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act”; the FDA’s proposed changes to generic drug labeling; and legislation intended to improve predictability and transparency in Drug Enforcement Agency and FDA regulation (H.R. 4299, H.R. 4069, and H.R. 4250).

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On February 24, 2014, the Departments of HHS, Labor, and Treasury published final regulations that generally bar employer-sponsored group health plans and group health insurance issuers from imposing a health coverage waiting period of more than 90 days after an employee is otherwise eligible for coverage. Other conditions for eligibility are generally permissible, such as…

CMS has announced that in light of persistent problems individuals have had enrolling in qualified health plans (QHPs) through some state-run Marketplaces, it will now allow individuals to access premium tax credits and cost-sharing reductions on a retroactive basis in certain circumstances. Specifically, in guidance dated February 27, 2014, CMS states that if a…

On February 4, 2014, CMS released draft operational and technical guidance to health insurance issuers that seek to offer Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) in a Federally-Facilitated Marketplace (FFM) and/or a Federally-Facilitated Small Business Health Options Program (FF-SHOP) in 2015 and beyond (unless superseded in future years by subsequent regulations or guidance). Among many other things…

This post was also written by Allison Warden Sizemore.

On February 12, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published final regulations modifying the timeline under which certain employers will be required to make “shared responsibility” payments if they do not provide qualified health insurance for their full-time employees and dependents pursuant to the Affordable…

This post was written by Nancy Sheliga.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has released a report examining the effect of prior health insurance coverage on Medicare beneficiaries. The report specifically focuses on the health status, program spending, and use of services by Medicare beneficiaries with and without continuous health insurance coverage before Medicare enrollment.

CMS has published its proposed methodology and data sources necessary to determine federal payment amounts made to states that elect to establish a Basic Health Program (BHP) under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to offer health benefits coverage to low-income individuals otherwise eligible to purchase coverage through Affordable Insurance Exchanges. The BHP, which will be…

CMS has published an interim final rule with comment period that sets a December 23, 2013 deadline for individuals to select a qualified health plan through an Exchange for an effective coverage date of January 1, 2014, to conform to a previously-announced policy. The prior regulation imposed a December 15, 2013 deadline. State Exchanges may…

The Obama Administration has announced a “hardship” exemption for certain individuals who have been notified that their individual health insurance policies have been cancelled and will not be renewed. In such cases, if the individual believes that the plan options available in the ACA Health Insurance Marketplace/Exchange are more expensive then the cancelled health insurance…

On December 2, 2013, CMS published a proposed rule that would establish 2015 payment parameters and oversight provisions for federally-facilitated Health Insurance Exchanges under the ACA. The rule specifically addresses risk adjustment, reinsurance, and risk corridors programs; cost-sharing parameters and cost-sharing reductions; and user fees for federally-facilitated Exchanges. It also proposes additional standards for composite…