COVID-19

Federal Health Policy Update for Friday, April 1

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Friday, April 1. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund After April 5, this program also will stop accepting claims for administering vaccines to uninsured individuals. See this notice for further information about both deadlines for submitting claims. Proposed Medicare Payment Regulations for FY 2023 CMS has published its proposed inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) prospective payment system and IRF quality reporting program for FY 2023. The agency proposes a 2.8 percent net increase in Medicare [...]

iqtsupport2022-04-01T17:09:26-04:00April 1, 2022|Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Coronavirus, COVID-19, health equity, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, March 30

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 30. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund The Provider Relief Fund last week distributed more than $413 million to more than 3600 providers across the country, the fourth round of Phase 4 payments since those payments began last November. This is in addition to nearly $7.5 billion in American Rescue Plan (ARP) Rural payments over the past four months. HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which administers the Provider Relief Fund, [...]

iqtsupport2022-03-30T17:28:16-04:00March 30, 2022|Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Medicaid as a Tool for Addressing Racial Health Inequities

Medicaid can be an important tool for addressing racial health inequities, the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests in a new issue brief. Among the measures involving Medicaid that might be undertaken to address racial health inequities and addressing social determinants of health, the brief suggests (in words taken directly from the issue brief): One significant action that would help close coverage disparities for people of color is adoption of the ACA Medicaid expansion in the 12 non-expansion states. Other expansions of Medicaid eligibility could also address racial disparities in coverage and access to care. Making it easier for eligible people to [...]

iqtsupport2022-03-25T06:00:31-04:00March 25, 2022|Affordable Care Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, COVID-19, health equity, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations|

Telehealth Boomed During Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic sparked tremendous growth in the use of telehealth services among Medicare beneficiaries, according to the Department of Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General. During the first year of the public health emergency, with many previous limits on the use of telehealth temporarily waived, more than 28 million Medicare beneficiaries used telehealth beneficiaries used 88 times more telehealth services during the first year of the pandemic than in the previous year beneficiaries used telehealth to receive 12 percent of their services beneficiaries most commonly used telehealth for office visits beneficiaries used telehealth for 43 percent of behavioral [...]

iqtsupport2022-03-23T13:00:32-04:00March 23, 2022|COVID-19, Medicare regulations, Telehealth|

States Prepare to Unravel Pandemic Medicaid Expansion

As the COVID-19 public health emergency once again appears, at least for the moment, to be winding down, state governments are preparing for how to undo the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program expansions mandated by Congress and return to their pre-COVID eligibility criteria for the two major health care safety-net programs. Under the temporary federal expansion of Medicaid and CHIP eligibility during the pandemic’s early days, states received enhanced federal matching funds for those programs in exchange for expanding their eligibility criteria and agreeing not to reconsider enrollees’ eligibility for the duration of the PHE. With the prospect of [...]

iqtsupport2022-03-22T06:00:53-04:00March 22, 2022|COVID-19, Medicaid|

Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, March 16

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund On March 22, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. (eastern), the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program will stop accepting claims for testing and treatment due to lack of funds. On April 5, 2022 at 11:59 p.m. (eastern), the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program and COVID-19 Coverage Assistance Fund will stop accepting vaccination claims due to a lack of funds. See the announcement of these changes. Providers that received Provider [...]

iqtsupport2022-03-16T17:41:14-04:00March 16, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Coronavirus, COVID-19, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid upper-payment limit, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for Thursday, March 10

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 10. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House has posted a transcript of the March 2 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team to outline the administration’s National COVID-19 Preparedness Plan. 340B Eligibility Protection and Telehealth Extensions in the Omnibus Spending Bill Providers that feared they might lose their eligibility to continue participating in the 340B prescription drug discount program because they have fallen below that program’s Medicare disproportionate share [...]

iqtsupport2022-03-10T17:37:25-05:00March 10, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid managed care, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, March 2

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 2. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund The Provider Relief Fund FAQ has been updated with three modified questions that address 1099 forms and procedures involved in returning Provider Relief Fund money to the federal government. Find the three updates, all marked “Modified 2/25/2022,” on pages 6 and 8 of the Provider Relief Fund FAQ. Federal Response to Surprise Billing Regulation Court Decision Last week a federal court decision invalidated a major [...]

iqtsupport2022-03-02T17:41:03-05:00March 2, 2022|Accountable Care Organization, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for Friday, February 18

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 3:00 p.m. on Friday, February 18. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House has posted a transcript of the February 16 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team and public officials. Go here to see the slides presented during the briefing. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Health Policy Update CMS has issued a request for information (RFI) seeking feedback on topics related to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), such as enrolling [...]

iqtsupport2022-02-18T17:15:56-05:00February 18, 2022|Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, COVID-19, health equity, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Administration Pursues New COVID Aid Request

The Biden administration plans to ask Congress for another $30 billion in COVID-19 aid. Its wish list reportedly includes: $4.9 billion for testing $3 billion to pay for care for the uninsured $17.9 billion for vaccines and treatments $3.7 billion to pay for new vaccine development $500 million for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention COVID surveillance and operations The wish list reportedly does not include additional money for the Provider Relief Fund. Learn more about what the administration seeks and what happens next in this Washington Post report.

iqtsupport2022-02-17T06:00:21-05:00February 17, 2022|Congress, COVID-19|