Other CMS Developments

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has published an interim final rule that changed the conditions of participation in Medicare and Medicaid to require vaccination of certain healthcare workers. The rule, title “Omnibus COVID-19 Health Care Staff Vaccination Rule” was published in the Federal Register on November 5, 2021.

The rule requires all employees of certain health care entities that are regulated by CMS to obtain their first vaccination shot or apply for a religious or other health or disability related exemption by December 6, 2021. Additionally, the rule requires either completed vaccination series or approved exemption by January 4, 2022.

Covered Entities and Individuals

The rule is not a blanket vaccine mandate for all health care workers and Medicare sites of service as had been speculated in various media reports. Instead the rule is limited to only those entities who are surveyed by CMS and have Conditions of Participation, Conditions for Coverage, or Requirements for Participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.Continue Reading CMS issues interim final rule on SARS-CoV-2 vaccination for health care workers

The October 3, 2019 Executive Order 13890 (“EO 13890”), entitled “Executive Order on Protecting and Improving Medicare for our Nation’s Seniors,” directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to “propose regulatory and sub-regulatory changes to the Medicare program to encourage innovation for patients.”  EO 13890 explicitly requests that the Secretary make coverage…

CMS is proposing to revise the coding used to describe miscellaneous durable medical equipment (DME). The agency notes that HCPCS code E1399, “durable medical equipment, miscellaneous,” is currently used to bill for inexpensive DME, other covered DME, and replacement parts, which are subject to different payment rules. Likewise, HCPCS code K0108 describes a “wheelchair component or accessory, not otherwise specified” and is currently being used to bill for inexpensive DME, other covered DME, and replacement parts of wheelchairs. To promote more accurate payment of Medicare DME claims, CMS is proposing replace HCPCS codes E1399 and K0108 with the following HCPCS codes, effective January 1, 2016:Continue Reading CMS Proposes HCPCS Changes for Miscellaneous DME

The CMS Independence at Home Demonstration saved more than $25 million during its first performance year while delivering high-quality patient care, according to a June 18, 2015 CMS announcement. The Independence at Home Demonstration is an ACA innovation model testing the effectiveness of delivering comprehensive primary care services at home to Medicare beneficiaries with multiple…

CMS has released detailed Medicare inpatient hospital, outpatient hospital, and physician utilization and payment data for 2013, including data analysis such as spending breakdowns by specialty and region. The hospital data set includes average hospital charges, Medicare payment, and utilization statistics for the 100 most common Medicare inpatient diagnosis related groups (DRGs). CMS also released…

CMS is inviting physician practices to apply to participate in its new “Million Hearts® Cardiovascular Risk Reduction Model," which will test whether encouraging physician practices to calculate risk for eligible Medicare beneficiaries will prevent the occurrence of first-time heart attacks and strokes. CMS intends to operate the model for five years, and seeks…

On June 1, 2015, CMS provided additional guidance to state Medicaid directors on implementation of fingerprint-based criminal background checks (FCBCs) as a component of ACA Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP provider screening requirements. CMS stipulates that states have 60 days from the date of the letter to begin implementation of the FCBC requirement, and implementation…

CMS has removed the non-invasive pressure support ventilators product category from Round 1 2017 of the Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program. The agency also is revising the HCPCS coding for ventilators in response to what it characterizes as program abuse related to inappropriate billing of HCPCS code E0464 Pressure Support Ventilators (non-invasive). Specifically, CMS…

CMS has released guidance for long term care (LTC) facilities, including nursing facilities and skilled nursing facilities, on beneficiary disenrollments. According to the guidance, “CMS continues to see an unacceptable practice of LTC facilities disenrolling beneficiaries from Medicare Advantage prescription drug plans (MAPDs) and enrolling them into stand-alone drug plans (PDPs) without the beneficiary’s…

CMS is proceeding with the application process for the Medicare Shared Savings Program for the January 1, 2016 program start date. Applicants interested in participating must submit a Notice of Intent to Apply by May 29, 2015, and complete the application by July 31, 2015.  A CMS call regarding the Shared Savings Program application review…

CMS has just announced that it is holding a public meeting on July 16, 2015 to discuss Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule (CLFS) payment for new or substantially revised HCPCS codes for calendar year 2016. At the meeting, the public also will have an opportunity to comment on certain reconsideration requests regarding test code…

CMS and FDA are establishing an interagency task force to reinforce their collaboration regarding the oversight of laboratory-developed tests (LDTs), which are tests intended for clinical use and designed, manufactured, and used within a single lab. According to an FDA blog post, the goals of the FDA/CMS task force include: (1) identifying areas of similarity…

On April 21, 2015, CMS announced its plans to recompete the supplier contracts awarded under the Round 1 Recompete of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program, as the statute requires CMS to do at least every three years.  The current Round 1 Recompete contract period expires December 31, 2016; the new “Round 1 2017” contracts are scheduled to go into effect January 1, 2017. 

For the recompete, CMS is making limited changes to the composition of the product categories and the number of competitive bidding areas (CBAs). The product categories to be included in the Round 1 2017 competition are as follows: Continue Reading CMS Announces Recompete of Round 1 of the Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program for 2017

On March 25, 2015, CMS formally launched the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network, a public-private partnership intended to support HHS’s goal of moving Medicare and the broader health industry from a fee-for-service model towards alternative payment models that emphasize value. According to CMS, more than 2,800 entities have registered to join the…

In 2013, CMS adopted an expedited administrative process to remove certain national coverage determinations (NCDs) older than 10 years since their most recent review. In December 2014, CMS removed seven NCDs under this process. On March 18, 2015, CMS proposed removing two more NCDs under this process, addressing coverage of Apheresis (therapeutic pheresis) and…