Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
GAO Recommends Changes in Oversight of 340B Program
The federal Government Accountability Office is recommending that the Department of Health and Human Services improve its oversight of the 340B prescription drug discount program. That program was created by Congress to help safety-net providers obtain discounts on prescription drugs they dispense to low-income patients on an outpatient basis. Those discounts are provided by pharmaceutical companies and not paid for with taxpayer money. The 340B program has been controversial in recent years, and in response to a request from Congress for the GAO to look into the contract pharmacies that [...]
With Eye on Value-Based Care, CMS Eyes Stark Law Change
Interested in addressing legal obstacles that prevent providers from participating in innovative payment models, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has put out a call for stakeholders to address challenges raised by the so-called Stark law that makes it difficult for physicians to participate in such models. In a news release accompanying CMS’s publication of its request for information, the agency notes that Over the past year, CMS has engaged with the provider community in a discussion about regulatory burden issues. This included publishing a Request for Information (RFI) [...]
Proposed Federal Reorganization Could Affect Health Care
Aspects of a proposed reorganization of the federal government could affect the agencies that administer key health care programs. In its 132-page Delivering Government Solutions in the 21st Century: Reform Plan and Reorganization Recommendations proposal, the White House calls for consolidating many social safety-net programs in a new Department of Health and Public Welfare. This department would retain responsibility for Medicare and Medicaid but also would assume responsibility for some food aid programs, including food stamps (now the Supplemental Food Assistance Program, or SNAP). In addition, the proposal would: consolidate [...]
CMS Unveils Medicaid “Scorecard”
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had introduced a new “Medicaid scorecard” that the agency says it hopes will “…increase public transparency about the programs’ administration and outcomes.” The scorecard, now posted on the Medicaid web site, presents information and data from the federal government, and reported voluntarily by the states, in three areas: state health system performance, state administrative accountability, and federal administrative accountability. The scorecard currently offers information on selected health and program indicators. Visitors can see comparative data between states and also extensive information about individual [...]
Hospital Government Payment Losses Could Reach $218 Billion by 2028
A recent study concluded that hospitals can expect to lose about $218 billion in federal Medicare and Medicaid payments between 2010, when the latest round of major cuts began, and 2028. Among those cuts cited in the study, which was commissioned by the American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals, are: $79 billion for DRG documentation and coding adjustments $73 billion for Medicare sequestration $26 billion for Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH) $11 billion in cuts associated with the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 Other cuts [...]