Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
Federal Health Policy Update for Monday, June 27
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:15 p.m. on Monday, June 27. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House COVID-19 response team has briefed the press about the administration’s latest efforts in the response to COVID-19. Find a transcript of that briefing here and find the slides presented during that briefing here. Supreme Court In a case that challenged a 2005 change in how CMS calculates Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) payments, [...]
Hospitals to Feds: Help Us Fight Hackers
Hospitals and health systems are looking to the federal government to help them deal with cybersecurity breaches. Those breaches, which at one time might only cost a ransom of $50,000, now often cost millions of dollars in damage – and in the case of one large health system, more than $100 million. Insurance against such problems, moreover, generally pays only a fraction of the cost of the damage done. The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, often through the latter’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, offer some assistance to [...]
COVID Drugs Experiencing Arguably Inequitable Distribution
The distribution of COVID-19 drugs could be exhibit A in the argument that inadequate access to care is a major social determinant of health. At least that’s a conclusion that might be drawn based on a new CDC study. According to a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analysis, the rate at which COVID-19 drug therapies are being distributed “…were lowest in high vulnerability zip codes, despite these zip codes having the largest number of dispensing sites.” The study observes that “The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated long-standing [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, June 21
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services The Supreme Court has ruled that CMS acted inappropriately when it reduced 340B payments to hospitals. In a unanimous decision, the court found that the law creating the program gives the federal government two ways to set 340B payments for outpatient drugs for qualified providers and that the manner in which CMS [...]
Providers Say They Need More Time to Comply With Surprise Bill Requirement
Health care providers say they need more time to comply with the federal surprise billing law’s requirement that they supply certain patients with good-faith estimates of the potential charges they are likely to incur for medical procedures. Preparing such estimates for self-insured, uninsured, and other requesting patients is far more difficult and time-consuming than policy-makers thought it would be, provider groups insist, and they also note that there currently is no automated means of producing such estimates within the time limits imposed by the No Surprises Act, which was signed [...]