Congressional panels continue to focus on federal health care policy topics, including cost, quality, and program integrity issues. Recent hearings have included the following: The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee held hearings entitled “Reducing Health Care Costs: Examining How Transparency Can Lower Spending and Empower Patients”; “Prioritizing Cures: Science and Stewardship at … Continue Reading
The House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee has scheduled a July 17, 2018 hearing on “Modernizing Stark Law to Ensure the Successful Transition from Volume to Value in the Medicare Program.” In announcing the hearing, Subcommittee Chairman Peter Roskam stated that “the lack of Stark modernization is a clear barrier to reforms that reward better … Continue Reading
A November 16, 2017 CMS call will focus on how the Medicare SNF Value-Based Purchasing Program will affect Medicare’s payments to SNFs beginning October 1, 2018. Among other things, the call will cover how CMS will translate SNF performance scores into value-based incentive payments and policies included in the FY 2018 SNF PPS final rule.… 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
CMS has released its final rule to update Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) prospective payment system (PPS) rates and policies for FY 2018, which begins October 1, 2017. The final rule incorporates a 1% increase to SNF PPS rates as mandated by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA); in the absence … Continue Reading
CMS has issued its proposed rule to update Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) prospective payment system (PPS) rates and policies for FY 2018, while at the same time soliciting comments regarding a forthcoming and potentially ground-breaking proposed rule to replace the SNF PPS RUG-IV case-mix classification methodology, which forms the basis for SNF payment, with … Continue Reading
On March 15, 2017, CMS is hosting a call to discuss the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program, which is scheduled to begin in fiscal year 2019. The call will focus on confidential quarterly feedback reports and implementation guidance. Registration is required to participate in the call.… Continue Reading
CMS has developed a variety of Medicare value-based payment models that tie payments to quality and efficiency metrics, and the importance of such models to physicians will increase under the new Quality Payment Program. The Government Accountability Office cautions, however, that small and rural physician practices face a number of unique challenges when participating in … Continue Reading
Medicare home health prospective payment system (HH PPS) payments will be reduced by 0.7 percent, or $130 million overall, in calendar year 2017 compared to 2016 levels under the final rule to be published by CMS on November 3, 2016. In the final rule, CMS is adopting a 2.5 percent home health payment update percentage (derived from … Continue Reading
CMS is announcing changes to the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (MA-VBID) model, which is testing how MA plans can use health plan design elements (e.g., supplemental benefits, disease management, or reduced cost sharing) to encourage enrollees with specified chronic conditions to use high-value clinical services or high-value providers that improve quality of care while … Continue Reading
CMS has published its final rule to update Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) PPS rates and policies for FY 2017. CMS projects that the final rule will increase overall payments to SNFs by $920 million, or 2.4%, compared to FY 2016 levels (and compared to the $800 million/2.1% increase forecast in the proposed rule). The … Continue Reading
CMS has received questions from manufacturers regarding whether price concessions and services offered to payers within Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) arrangements in the pharmaceutical marketplace could impact their drug’s Medicaid best price and increase their Medicaid rebate obligations. In recent guidance, CMS notes that, in general, prices included in best price include all prices, such as … Continue Reading
CMS has published its proposed rule to update Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) PPS rates and policies for FY 2017. CMS projects that the proposed rule would increase overall payments to SNFs by $800 million, or 2.1%, compared to FY 2016 levels. This projected update is based on a proposed 2.6% market basket increase that … Continue Reading
CMS has released a complex and controversial plan – the Part B Drug Payment Model — to test new Medicare payment methods for certain Part B drugs to determine whether alternative payment designs will reduce Medicare expenditures while preserving or enhancing the quality of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. CMS suggests that the current Medicare … 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
CMS published its final CY 2016 Medicare Home Health Prospective Payment System (PPS) rule on November 5, 2015. CMS projects that overall Medicare payments to home health agencies (HHAs) will be reduced by 1.4% — or $260 million – in CY 2016 compared to 2015 levels as a result of the policies finalized in the … Continue Reading
According to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, bonuses and penalties triggered by the Medicare Hospital Value-based Purchasing (HVBP) program have had no apparent impact on quality measure performance trends to date. The HVBP program, which was established by the Affordable Care Act, adjusts inpatient hospital payments based on individual hospital performance on designated … Continue Reading
The latest CMS “innovation model” focuses on options for redesigning Medicare Advantage (MA) to improve health outcomes while reducing expenditures. Specifically, the Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model will allow MA plans in seven states to apply to offer supplemental benefits or reduced cost sharing to enrollees with specified chronic conditions. The five-year initiative will … Continue Reading
CMS has released its proposed calendar year (CY) 2016 Medicare home health prospective payment system (HH PPS) update, which CMS estimates would reduce overall Medicare payments to home health agencies (HHAs) by $350 million in 2016, compared with 2015 levels. This decrease reflects a 2.3% home health payment update percentage (derived from a 2.9% market basket … Continue Reading
On May 12, 2015, CMS is hosting a call that will provide an overview of all Medicare hospital inpatient quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs. Specifically, the call will cover: the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program; the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) Program; the Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP); the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP); … Continue Reading
On April 30, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is publishing its proposed 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) 2016. CMS will accept comments on the proposed rule until June 16, 2015. The … Continue Reading
On April 20, 2015, CMS published its proposed rule updating Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) PPS rates and policies for FY 2016. CMS projects that the proposed rule would increase overall payments to SNFs by $500 million, or 1.4%, compared to FY 2015 levels. This update would be attributed to a 2.6% market basket increase that … Continue Reading
Today HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced ambitious plans to move from “volume to value in Medicare payments” by accelerating the share of Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) payments that are tied to quality and value and reimbursed through alternative payment models. The first goal in the initiative is for 30% of Medicare provider payments to be in … Continue Reading
On April 1, 2014, President Obama signed into law H.R. 4302, the "Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014" ("the Act"). The Act includes a one-year Medicare physician fee schedule fix that averts a nearly 24 percent payment cut set for April 1, 2014, but which falls far short of earlier hopes for full repeal of the current sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. The Act also includes numerous other Medicare payment and policy changes, including skilled nursing facility value-based purchasing provisions, reforms to the physician fee schedule relative valuation process, a new framework for clinical laboratory payments, a variety of changes impacting imaging services, changes in the exceptions for long term care hospitals, and extension of certain expiring provisions. In other areas, the bill includes a one-year delay in the transition to ICD-10, changes to the timetable for Medicaid disproportionate share hospital cuts, and "front-loading" of the 2024 Medicare sequestration reduction.… Continue Reading
