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Federal Health Policy Update for December 19

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for December 13-19. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Funding for the operation of the federal government will expire tomorrow, December 20, unless Congress passes a funding bill. Earlier this week, congressional leaders agreed on a continuing resolution that included a number of health care priorities, including relief from scheduled Medicaid DSH cuts, relief for Medicare physician payment cuts, extension of telehealth flexibilities, extension of the Acute Hospital Care at Home [...]

December 19, 2024|Categories: 340b, Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|Tags: 340B, Acute Hospital at Home Program, CDC and bird flu, CMS Optimizing Care Delivery A Framework for Improving the Health Care Experience, continuing resolution, Health Data Technology and interoperability regulation, information blocking, Innovation in Behavioral Health Model, MACPAC, Mediare outpatient dialysis payments, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, medicare advantage value-based insurance design model, Medicare and weight-loss drugs, Medicare clinical laboratory rates 2025, Medicare DMEPOS rates 2025, Medicare durable medical education prosthetics orthotics and supplies rates 2025, Medicare home health payments, Medicare hospice payments, Medicare inpatient hospital payments, Medicare inpatient rehabilitation facility payments, Medicare outpatient hospital payments, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, Medicare physician fee schedule, Medicare physician payments, Medicare skilled nursing facility payments, MedPAC, MedPAC Medicare rate recommendations, Merit-Based Incentive Payment System MIPS, MLN Connects, telehealth|

MACPAC Meets

Members of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met publicly last week in Washington, D.C. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of its meeting. The MACPAC December 2024 meeting began with a discussion on accountability in Medicaid managed care, which is the predominant delivery system in Medicaid. MACPAC will examine the tools the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and state Medicaid agencies use to manage managed care organizations’ (MCOs) performance and hold plans accountable to contractual obligations. Staff presented findings from MACPAC’s review of federal policy [...]

December 18, 2024|Categories: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid regulations|Tags: MACPAC, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid home and community based services, Medicaid managed care, Medicare Advantage|

MedPAC Meets, Offers Preliminary 2026 Rate Proposals

MedPAC’s commissioners held their latest public meeting on Thursday, December 12 and Friday, December 13. The subjects on the meeting’s agenda were: assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: physician and other health professional services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: hospital inpatient and outpatient services; and mandated report on rural emergency hospitals assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: skilled nursing facility services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: inpatient rehabilitation facility services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: home health care services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: hospice services [...]

Federal Health Policy Update for December 12

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for December 6-12. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Funding the Federal Government With funding for the federal government set to expire in eight days, Congress is still negotiating the details of the next continuing resolution. Speaker Johnson has indicated that the next continuing resolution will extend until an unspecified date in March. Last week, the House majority and House minority exchanged proposals for additional items to include in the next [...]

December 12, 2024|Categories: 340b, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, COVID-19, Federal Update, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy|Tags: 340B, 340B prescription drug discount program, health-relate social needs, Hospital Preparedness Program, HRSA sickle cell disease programs, ICD-10-PCS, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicare site-neutral payments, National Action Alliance for Patient and Workforce Safety, PREP Act, Public Readiness and Emergency Preparedness Act, SAMHSA Unified Performance Reporting Tool, Social determinants of health, social drivers of health, SUPRT, TEFCA, telehealth prescribing of controlled medications, Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement|

182 House Members Ask for Halt to Medicaid DSH Cut

182 members of the House of Representatives have written to House Speaker Mike Johnson and House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries to ask them to prevent a major cut in Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicaid DSH) that is scheduled to take effect on January 1. As members of Congress negotiate how to fund the federal government when the current continuing resolution ends on December 20, the bipartisan group of legislators as urges its leaders to prevent the $8 billion cut in Medicaid DSH allocations to the states. Their letter states [...]

December 11, 2024|Categories: Congress, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments|Tags: Alliance of Safety-Net Hospitals, community safety-net hospitals, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH|

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