August 2022

Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, August 23

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, August 23.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. CMS “Roadmap for the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency” While the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) has not ended and HHS Secretary Becerra has committed to giving states and the health care community 60 days’ notice before formally ending it – notice he has not given – the federal government is already planning for life after the PHE and its latest step in this process is [...]

2022-08-23T17:33:16-04:00August 23, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care, Telehealth|
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Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, August 17

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 3:15 p.m. on Wednesday, August 17. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House has released a fact sheet outlining key supports and guidance it is providing for protecting students, teachers, and school communities and for managing the risks of COVID-19 spread for the upcoming school year. These resources and guidance focus on using COVID-19 vaccines and boosters as the first line of defense to protect in-person learning; providing robust access to COVID-19 testing at schools to [...]

2022-08-17T17:13:54-04:00August 17, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19|
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Federal Health Policy Update for Monday, August 8`

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, August 8.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress On Sunday, the Senate passed the Democrats’ health care, climate, and tax bill, H.R. 5376, The Inflation Reduction Act, by a vote of 51-50, with Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaking vote.  Health care provisions in the reconciliation bill include: allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices limiting out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare enrollees to $2,000 a year extending for three years enhanced Affordable Care Act [...]

2022-08-08T16:12:06-04:00August 8, 2022|Affordable Care Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, COVID-19, deficit reduction, Medicaid, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|
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On Second Thought, CMS Decides to Share Hospital Performance Data

After originally proposing not to publish certain recent hospital performance data because it feared it might be skewed by COVID-19-related challenges, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has decided to go ahead and publish that data – but not to use it in Medicare payment calculations. Under Medicare’s hospital-acquired condition program, hospitals are rated on their performance on ten safety indicators.  Regulators, however, feared that doing so based on hospital performance during the pandemic might penalize hospitals whose communities were especially hard hit by the pandemic.  Patient safety groups opposed CMS’s April proposal to withhold the data and the [...]

2022-08-05T09:04:52-04:00August 5, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hospitals, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|
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Rural Residents Turning to Urban Hospitals in Growing Numbers

Residents of rural areas are choosing to seek care in urban hospitals in growing numbers, according to a new study. And while this trend has been accelerated by rural hospital closures, it is occurring even in areas where rural hospitals have not closed. Among the reasons for this migration from rural to urban hospitals are physician referrals and perceptions about the cost and quality of care. Learn more from the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health article “Urban hospitals see rising admissions from rural Medicare patients,” which includes a link to additional resources.

2022-08-04T06:00:02-04:00August 4, 2022|hospitals|
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Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, August 2

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, August 2.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House has announced two new actions to address the youth mental health crisis:  it will award nearly $300 million from the FY 2022 bipartisan omnibus agreement to expand access to mental health services in schools and it will encourage governors to invest more in school-based mental health services.  Learn more about this effort, including the individual funding components of the $300 million in new [...]

2022-08-02T16:39:35-04:00August 2, 2022|Affordable Care Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, post-acute care|
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