Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
MedPAC Issues 2018 Report to Congress
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has issued its 2018 report and recommendations to Congress. The report includes MedPAC’s recommendations for next year’s Medicare fee-for-service payments; a review of the Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D programs, with recommendations; and a report telehealth required by the 21st Century Cures Act. For Medicare fee-for-service rates, MedPAC proposes: the inpatient and outpatient rate increases, physician and other health professional rate increases, and outpatient dialysis increase included under current law no increase for ambulatory surgical centers, long-term-care hospitals, and hospice providers no rate increase [...]
MACPAC Issues Annual Report, Recommendations to Congress
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission has published its annual report and recommendations to Congress. MACPAC’s report addresses three primary areas: Medicaid managed care, telehealth, and Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH). With 80 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries now enrolled in managed care plans, MACPAC offers three major recommendations for improving Medicaid managed care efforts: permit states to require all of their Medicaid beneficiaries to enroll in a managed care plan extend Medicaid managed care section 1915(b) waivers from two to five years permit states to obtain waivers [...]
CMS Reports on Quality Measures Performance
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has published a new report detailing the progress of health care providers in meeting Medicare quality standards and improving their performance under those standards. The report, required every three years, focuses on 17 key indicators of quality in the delivery of health care as defined by 247 individual quality measures. The analysis found that: 670,000 patients improved their control of their blood pressure 510,000 fewer patients have poor control of their diabetes 12,000 fewer people died following hospitalization for a heart attack there [...]
Primary Care Spending Declines Amid Health Care Cost Rise
At a time when health care costs continue to rise, spending for primary care is declining. This is the conclusion of an analysis of Health Care Cost Institute Data published on the Health Affairs Blog. According to the analysis, spending on primary health care declined six percent between 2012 and 2016 – more than twice the rate of the decline in spending for any other type of care. These results concern analysts because research shows that investment in primary care services generally improves population health at less cost. The decline [...]
New Report Details Key Health Care Provisions in February Budget Bill
The Congressional Research Service has published a new report describing the health care-related provisions in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 that Congress passed last month to fund the federal government. A major part of that law was the Advancing Chronic Care, Extenders, and Social Services (ACCESS) Act, and the new report includes descriptions of the Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, public health, and other health care aspects of the law. Go here to find the Congressional Research Service report Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (P.L. 115-123): Brief Summary of Division E—The [...]