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MedPAC Meets

Members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met publicly last week in Washington, D.C. Their agenda consisted of the following issues: Rural hospital and clinician payment policy: A workplan for 2024–2025 Assessing data sources for measuring health care utilization by Medicare Advantage enrollees: Encounter data and other sources Preliminary analysis of Medicare Advantage quality Medicare’s Acute Hospital Care at Home program Update on trends and issues in Medicare inpatient psychiatric services Go here for a brief overview of each agenda item and links to the staff presentations on those issues [...]

March 14, 2024|Categories: Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|Tags: Medicare, Medicare Acute Hospital at Home program, Medicare Advantage, Medicare and inpatient psychiatric services, Medicare and rural hospitals, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, Medicare reimbursement, MedPAC|

Rural Hospitals Losing Money, Slashing Services, Mulling Future

Roughly half of rural hospitals lost money last year, according to a new report. Those struggles, moreover, are not a one-time thing: more than 40 percent were in the same position a year ago and more such hospitals are expected to be in this position a year from now. The problem is worse, moreover, for hospitals in states that did not take advantage of the Affordable Care Act option of expanding their Medicaid programs. In response to these challenges, some rural hospitals are discontinuing services like obstetrics – a serious [...]

March 13, 2024|Categories: hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare|Tags: Rural Emergency Hospital, Rural hospitals|

Federal Health Policy Update for March 7

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for March 1-7. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress On Wednesday, March 16 the House passed, by a vote of 339-85, the first package of spending bills to fund some federal agencies through the remainder of the 2024 federal fiscal year. The House bills include several health care provisions extending programs that were set to expire on Friday, March 8. The bills would extend the following provisions and programs through December [...]

March 7, 2024|Categories: Alternative payment models, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care|Tags: AHRQ News Now, Cell and Gene Therapy Access Model, Change Healthcare, Change Healthcare cyberattack, Children's Health Insurance Program, CHIP, graduate medical education, HRSA eNews, ICD-10, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicare Payment Advisory Commissions, Medicare physician fee schedule, Medicare Prescription Payment Plan, Medicare site-neutral outpatient payments, Medicare stay of enrollment, Medicare-dependent hospitals, MedPAC, MLN Connects, Rural Opioid Treatment and Recovery Initiative|

Federal Health Policy Update for February 29

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 23-29. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress This afternoon the House passed H.R. 7463, which changed the dates for the March 1 and March 8 funding deadlines to March 8 and March 22 and includes no new health care policies. Health care extenders included in the current continuing resolution, including the delay to Medicaid DSH cuts, are not included in the bill that passed the House; the March 8 [...]

Medicaid DSH Cut In, Medicare Site-Neutral Payments Out of Health Bill?

With Congress at a stalemate on spending legislation, lawmakers are considering a narrower scope of issues to address in near-term health care legislation. According to published reports, scheduled cuts in Medicaid disproportionate share allotments to states (Medicaid DSH), already delayed several times, could be delayed once again. In addition, a proposal to require Medicare to pay for outpatient services on a site-neutral basis, rather than paying higher rates to hospital-based outpatient departments higher rates, might not be included. Also under consideration: restoring some cuts in Medicare’s payments to physicians and [...]

February 28, 2024|Categories: Congress, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare, Medicare cuts, Medicare reimbursement policy|Tags: hospital price transparency, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare physician payments, site-neutral Medicare outpatient payments|

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