Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
CMS Revamps Medicare ACO Program
The federal government seeks to pursue greater savings and an accelerated approach to value-based care through an overhaul of its programs for Medicare accountable care organizations. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ new “Pathways to Success” program seeks to speed up the process of providers assuming risk for costs and outcomes through the following changes from the agency’s current approach. A reduction in how long participating ACOs can remain in the program without assuming some responsibility for their spending. Modifications that CMS hopes will encourage physician groups to remain [...]
Readmissions Program Failing Some Heart Patients?
The 30-day mortality rate has risen for heart failure patients since Medicare’s hospital readmission reduction program was implemented. According to a new study published in JAMA, the 30-day mortality rate for heart failure patients rose 0.49 percent between 2007-2010 and 2010-2012 and another 0.52 percent between 2010-2012 and 2012-2015. Similar results were not found for the other types of patients whose readmission rates are measured under the program: patients who were hospitalized for heart attacks, heart bypass surgery, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and hip or knee replacement. The heart [...]
CMS to Create New Office for Regulatory Reform
In 2019 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services intends to create a new office to address regulatory reform. CMS administrator Seema Verma recently announced her intention to create this office, but other than saying its priority would be to reduce regulatory burden, offered no details. See a brief notice about the new office here.
CBO Targets Health Care in Options for Reducing Deficit
Every year the Congressional Budget Office publishes a menu of options for reducing federal spending and the federal budget deficit. As in the past, this year’s compendium includes a number of options to reduce federal health care spending and raises federal revenue through health care initiatives. The cost-cutting options include: establish caps on federal spending for Medicaid limit states’ taxes on health care providers reduce federal Medicaid matching rates change the cost-sharing rules for Medicare and restrict Medigap insurance raise the age of eligibility for Medicare to 67 reduce Medicare’s [...]
HIPAA Overhaul Coming?
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a request for information about stakeholders’ views on regulations implementing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, popularly known as HIPAA, leading to conjecture that the administration may be planning to revise the federal government’s application of the federal health care privacy law enacted in 1996. According to an HHS news release, “This RFI is another crucial step in our Regulatory Sprint to Coordinated Care, which is taking a close look at how regulations like HIPAA can be fine-tuned to [...]