Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
CMS Warns States About Medicaid Renewals
Some states are falling short in their efforts to process Medicaid renewal applications and are inappropriately finding too many people ineligible to continue participating in the program, the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services has written in a letter it sent to all 50 states. In this letter, CMS wrote that As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has worked with states on the return to regular eligibility operations following the end of the Medicaid continuous enrollment condition, we have identified issues where states are out of compliance [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for August 31
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for August 25-31. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. No Surprises Act For the second time in less than a month a court has rejected how federal agencies are implementing the Independent Dispute Resolution process of the No Surprises Act. A federal court concluded that the process for establishing the Qualifying Payment Amount, or QPA – the median rate insurers pay for in-network services and a critical factor in settling payment disputes [...]
Court Again Sets Back No Surprises Act Implementation
For the second time in less than a month, a federal court has rejected the manner in which federal agencies are implementing the Independent Dispute Resolution process of the No Surprises Act, the 2020 law designed to protect consumers from surprise medical bills. In its ruling the court found that the process established by federal agencies to establish the Qualifying Payment Amount, or QPA, which is the median rate insurers pay for in-network services and a critical factor in adjudicating payment disputes between providers and payers, inappropriately permits insurers to [...]
Supply of Nursing Home Beds Declining
The number of nursing home beds in the U.S. is fast declining, according to a new analysis commissioned by the American Health Care Association, a nursing home trade group. According to the study, 21 percent of nursing home operators have downsized – dropped beds or units. 55 percent have turned away people seeking nursing home beds. 48 percent have waiting lists. 579 facilities have closed since 2020, and along with them, the supply of nursing home beds fell by more than 45,000. Nursing home operators cite a number of reasons [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for August 24
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for August 11-24. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services After suspending the No Surprises Act-created Independent Dispute Resolution process in the wake of a court ruling striking down a recent increase in fees for that process, CMS has established a new rate structure for initiating the adjudication of payment disagreements between providers and payers. It explains the new rate structure in this new FAQ, which nevertheless [...]