Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

MedPAC Meets

MedPAC’s commissioners held their latest public meetings on Thursday, January 13 and Friday, January 14. The subjects on the meetings’ agenda were: assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: physician and other health professional services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: hospital inpatient and outpatient services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: skilled nursing facility services; home health agency services; inpatient rehabilitation facility services; outpatient dialysis services; and hospice services eliminating Medicare’s coverage limits on stays in freestanding inpatient psychiatric facilities Medicare prescription drug program (Part D): status report ambulatory surgical center services: status report the Medicare Advantage program: status report [...]

joe2025-01-21T17:23:04-05:00January 22, 2025|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Federal Update, hospitals, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for January 16

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 11-17. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress House Budget Committee Republican members of the House Budget Committee have circulated a list of possible policy changes that would reduce federal spending by between $5.3 trillion and $5.7 trillion over a period of ten years. Up to $3.4 trillion of those possible cuts could include reductions in federal health care spending. The health care cuts the document lists (all figures are ten-year reductions) are: Medicare introducing Medicare site-neutral outpatient payments - [...]

Federal Health Policy Update for January 9

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 4-10. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Congressional leaders continued to refine their committee membership for the 119th Congress. In the past week, the following additions were made to committees with jurisdiction over health care matters: The House Energy and Commerce Committee has added six new Democratic members to the committee: Reps. Kevin Mullin (CA), Troy Carter (LA), Jennifer McClellan (VA), Greg Landsman (OH), Jake Auchincloss (MA), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY). The House Ways and Means Committee has added [...]

joe2025-01-09T15:02:36-05:00January 9, 2025|Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, Federal Update, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for January 3

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for December 20 through January 3. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The 119th Congress convened today to swear in new members and members of the House of Representatives have re-elected Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) as Speaker. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has published a solicitation for up to 10 additional hospitals from eligible low population density states to participate in its Rural Community Hospital Demonstration program. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 directed the agency [...]

joe2025-01-03T15:27:26-05:00January 3, 2025|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, Federal Update, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Pennsylvania Update, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for December 19

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for December 13-19. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Funding for the operation of the federal government will expire tomorrow, December 20, unless Congress passes a funding bill. Earlier this week, congressional leaders agreed on a continuing resolution that included a number of health care priorities, including relief from scheduled Medicaid DSH cuts, relief for Medicare physician payment cuts, extension of telehealth flexibilities, extension of the Acute Hospital Care at Home program, a number of changes in the practices of pharmacy [...]

MACPAC Meets

Members of the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met publicly last week in Washington, D.C. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of its meeting. The MACPAC December 2024 meeting began with a discussion on accountability in Medicaid managed care, which is the predominant delivery system in Medicaid. MACPAC will examine the tools the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and state Medicaid agencies use to manage managed care organizations’ (MCOs) performance and hold plans accountable to contractual obligations. Staff presented findings from MACPAC’s review of federal policy and a 40-state review of accountability tools as described in [...]

joe2024-12-17T15:23:53-05:00December 18, 2024|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid regulations|

MedPAC Meets, Offers Preliminary 2026 Rate Proposals

MedPAC’s commissioners held their latest public meeting on Thursday, December 12 and Friday, December 13. The subjects on the meeting’s agenda were: assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: physician and other health professional services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: hospital inpatient and outpatient services; and mandated report on rural emergency hospitals assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: skilled nursing facility services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: inpatient rehabilitation facility services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: home health care services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: hospice services assessing payment adequacy and updating payments: outpatient dialysis services In [...]

joe2024-12-17T13:33:44-05:00December 17, 2024|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hospitals, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for December 12

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for December 6-12. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Funding the Federal Government With funding for the federal government set to expire in eight days, Congress is still negotiating the details of the next continuing resolution. Speaker Johnson has indicated that the next continuing resolution will extend until an unspecified date in March. Last week, the House majority and House minority exchanged proposals for additional items to include in the next continuing resolution and both parties listed health care extenders – [...]

joe2024-12-12T16:16:50-05:00December 12, 2024|340b, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, COVID-19, Federal Update, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for December 5

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for November 22 – December 5. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The House has posted its session calendar for 2025. Find that calendar here. Yesterday, House Republicans made an offer to House Democrats regarding health care provisions to be included in the continuing resolution (CR) that must pass before December 20. The offer is a conversation-opener and very few details are available. Although most of the proposed policies have bipartisan support, there are some tangible policy differences, including House Democrats’ [...]

joe2024-12-05T17:14:33-05:00December 5, 2024|Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, Federal Update, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, Pennsylvania Update|

Federal Health Policy Update for November 21

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for November 15-21. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The Incoming Administration President Trump has nominated Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for Secretary of Health and Human Services and Dr. Mehmet Oz for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Both positions require confirmation by the Senate. Senators will start the process of confirming the President-elect’s cabinet nominees when the new Congress convenes in January. Congress Funding for the federal government will expire on December 20 and it is still [...]

joe2024-11-21T15:14:52-05:00November 21, 2024|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|