Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
Federal Health Policy Update for May 23
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for May 18-23. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have released a white paper outlining potential reforms of how Medicare pays physicians and how Medicare might better meet the needs of those with chronic illnesses. The white paper notes areas of interest the committee sees as opportunities for reform, including: Creating sustainable payment updates to ensure clinicians can own and operate their practices. Creating incentives [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for May 17
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for May 10-17. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has announced a further extension of deadlines for fulfilling certain Medicaid unwinding requirements. Some current deadlines will be extended to December 31, 2024 and others through June 30, 2025. States also may seek to extend selected COVID-19-related flexibilities through June 30, 2025. Among the deadlines affected by this announcement are those for using ex parte information [...]
Medicaid Unwinding Extended
The federal government is giving states more time to complete their Medicaid unwinding process – and people still on the Medicaid rolls more time to apply to retain their Medicaid eligibility. In a memo to state Medicaid programs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wrote that To continue supporting states’ efforts to establish and update income and eligibility determination systems that maximize states’ ability to ensure that eligible individuals retain coverage, CMS is further extending these unwinding-related…waivers through June 30, 2025. When the Families First Coronavirus Response Act’s prohibition [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for May 9
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for May 3-9. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services HHS and CMS have announced the Increasing Organ Transplant Access Model, which seeks to increase access to kidney transplants for people living with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), improve the quality of care for people seeking kidney transplants, reduce disparities among individuals undergoing the process of receiving a kidney transplant, and increase the efficiency and capability of transplant [...]
Hospitals Looking for More Skilled Nursing Options
After years of divesting skilled nursing facilities, hospitals are responding to the growing challenge of finding skilled nursing beds into which to discharge their patients by looking to get back into the skilled nursing business. Sort of. In general, acute-care hospitals are no longer interested in owning nursing homes but they are interested in securing access to the skilled nursing beds they need for their patients through bed reservation contracts, management and lease agreements, sharing their clinicians with nursing facilities, and more while also expanding their hospital at-home programs because [...]