Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, July 20

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 20. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House COVID-19 response team has briefed the press about the administration’s latest efforts in the response to COVID-19. Find a transcript of that teleconference briefing here. COVID-19 Public Health Emergency HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has renewed the COVID-19 public health emergency effective July 15. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has released its proposed Medicare outpatient prospective payment system regulation for calendar year 2023. [...]

iqtsupport2022-07-20T16:23:46-04:00July 20, 2022|340b, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Thursday, July 7

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 7. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The Courts Hospitals may sue state Medicaid programs for failing to ensure that private insurers – such as Medicaid managed care plans – pay hospitals in a timely manner for the care they provide to their Medicaid patients, a federal appeals court has ruled. See the court’s decision in this case. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has proposed a series of changes in the Medicare cost [...]

iqtsupport2022-07-07T16:56:58-04:00July 7, 2022|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for Thursday, June 30

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, June 30. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House has unveiled its “White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis.” Monkeypox Update The White House has announced the first phase of its national monkeypox vaccine strategy, a part of its monkeypox outbreak response. The major components of the strategy include expanded efforts to vaccinate those most at risk, expanded testing supply and availability, and greater engagement with community leaders and stakeholders. [...]

iqtsupport2022-06-30T17:01:01-04:00June 30, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations for long-term care, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for Monday, June 27

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:15 p.m. on Monday, June 27. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House COVID-19 response team has briefed the press about the administration’s latest efforts in the response to COVID-19. Find a transcript of that briefing here and find the slides presented during that briefing here. Supreme Court In a case that challenged a 2005 change in how CMS calculates Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) payments, the Supreme Court has, in a 5-4 decision, reversed a [...]

iqtsupport2022-06-27T16:37:45-04:00June 27, 2022|Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, June 21

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services The Supreme Court has ruled that CMS acted inappropriately when it reduced 340B payments to hospitals. In a unanimous decision, the court found that the law creating the program gives the federal government two ways to set 340B payments for outpatient drugs for qualified providers and that the manner in which CMS cut those payments in 2018 followed neither. Learn more from [...]

iqtsupport2022-06-21T17:24:52-04:00June 21, 2022|340b, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Providers Say They Need More Time to Comply With Surprise Bill Requirement

Health care providers say they need more time to comply with the federal surprise billing law’s requirement that they supply certain patients with good-faith estimates of the potential charges they are likely to incur for medical procedures. Preparing such estimates for self-insured, uninsured, and other requesting patients is far more difficult and time-consuming than policy-makers thought it would be, provider groups insist, and they also note that there currently is no automated means of producing such estimates within the time limits imposed by the No Surprises Act, which was signed into law in late 2020. The requirement is scheduled to [...]

iqtsupport2022-06-17T06:00:48-04:00June 17, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services|

Feds Getting Serious About Hospital Price Transparency

After warning many hospitals that they were not in compliance with a 2019 requirement that they post their prices on the internet, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has now fined two hospitals for failing to do so. Policy-makers and advocates have been warning for some time that too many hospitals were not complying with the requirement: a JAMA report found that within six to nine months of the requirement’s implementation only six percent of 5200 hospitals met the requirement and a later review conducted by patient advocates found only 14 percent of 1000 hospitals surveyed in compliance. Eventually [...]

iqtsupport2022-06-14T14:34:45-04:00June 14, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services|

Federal Health Policy Update for Monday, June 13

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, June 13. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House has issued a fact sheet outlining its plan for administering COVID-19 vaccines to children under the age of five. Find the fact sheet here. The White House also held a background call with the press to discuss this plan; go here to see a transcript of that call. The White House COVID-19 response team has held a briefing for the press to discuss [...]

iqtsupport2022-06-13T17:03:53-04:00June 13, 2022|Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Friday, June 3

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Friday, June 3. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House COVID-19 response coordinator and press secretary have held a briefing on the latest in the federal response to COVID-19. Find a transcript of that briefing here. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services HHS and CMS are notifying states that they now have an additional year – through March 31, 2025 – to use funding made available by the American Rescue Plan to enhance, [...]

iqtsupport2022-06-03T16:49:10-04:00June 3, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, health equity, hospitals, Medicare, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Friday, May 20

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:15 p.m. on Friday, May 20. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House has announced that U.S. households may now order an additional eight free home COVID-19 tests at COVIDTests.gov. Learn more from this White House fact sheet. White House COVID-19 and public health officials have held a COVID-19 briefing. Find a transcript of the briefing here and the slides presented during the briefing here. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has published a new [...]

iqtsupport2022-05-20T17:13:05-04:00May 20, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare|