Bulletin Board
Bulletin Board
Medicare Underpayment of Hospitals Continues
Medicare paid hospitals only 82 percent of what they spent caring for Medicare patients in 2022, according to a new analysis. That amounted to a Medicare payment shortfall of nearly $100 billion. Learn more about these numbers, how they were calculated, and what they mean for hospitals and their Medicare patients from the American Hospital Association report “Medicare Significantly Underpays Hospitals for Cost of Patient Care.”
Federal Health Policy Update for January 11
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 5 - 11. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS will establish 200 new Medicare-funded residency slots in FY 2025. Learn more about the additional slots here and find information about how to apply for those slots here. The deadline for applications is March 31. CMS released guidance for Medicare Part D plans that describes coverage and processing claims for COVID-19 therapeutics. Medicare Part [...]
“Drivers of Health” Drive Most Health Outcomes
A recent analysis has found that newly coined “drivers of health” are the primary drivers of health outcomes. According to a Commonwealth Fund report, Research indicates that an estimated 20 percent of health outcomes are linked to medical care; the remaining 80 percent stem from socioeconomic, environmental, and behavioral factors referred to as social drivers of health (DOH). These factors – such as homelessness, food insecurity, and exposure to intimate partner violence – are associated with chronic illness, mental health issues, acute hospitalizations, and high health care costs and disproportionately [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for January 4
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for December 21 to January 4. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. No Surprises Act HHS, the departments of Labor and the Treasury, and the Office of Personnel Management intend to reopen the comment period for submitting comments on a proposed rule governing federal Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) operations. They plan to publish a notice to this effect in the near future with further details on reopening the comment period. Department of [...]
Expanded Mental Health Options Coming to Medicare
Beginning on January 1, Medicare beneficiaries will have access to more varied types of mental health services. At that time, mental health counselors and marriage and family therapists will become eligible to accept Medicare payments, joining the limited number of psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers who have been serving the Medicare population as part of the first expansion of Medicare-eligible mental health providers since 1989. With Medicare planning to pay its new provider types 75 percent of what it pays psychologists, it is not clear how many of those new [...]