Medicare reimbursement policy

Federal Health Policy Update for the Week of August 24 to September 2

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for the week of August 29 to September 2. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The White House The White House has introduced a new “National HIV Strategy” for 2022-2025. The new strategy updates the 2021 strategy and establishes targets for ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S. by 2030, including a 75 percent reduction in new HIV infections by 2025 and a 90 percent reduction by 2030. Find the strategy here. Proposed Changes in Medicaid, CHIP, and Basic Health Program Enrollment [...]

iqtsupport2022-09-06T15:25:17-04:00September 6, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, August 23

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, August 23. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. CMS “Roadmap for the End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency” While the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) has not ended and HHS Secretary Becerra has committed to giving states and the health care community 60 days’ notice before formally ending it – notice he has not given – the federal government is already planning for life after the PHE and its latest step in this process is [...]

iqtsupport2022-08-23T17:33:16-04:00August 23, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Monday, August 8`

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, August 8. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress On Sunday, the Senate passed the Democrats’ health care, climate, and tax bill, H.R. 5376, The Inflation Reduction Act, by a vote of 51-50, with Vice President Harris casting the tie-breaking vote. Health care provisions in the reconciliation bill include: allowing Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices limiting out-of-pocket prescription drug costs for Medicare enrollees to $2,000 a year extending for three years enhanced Affordable Care Act [...]

iqtsupport2022-08-08T16:12:06-04:00August 8, 2022|Affordable Care Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, COVID-19, deficit reduction, Medicaid, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

On Second Thought, CMS Decides to Share Hospital Performance Data

After originally proposing not to publish certain recent hospital performance data because it feared it might be skewed by COVID-19-related challenges, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has decided to go ahead and publish that data – but not to use it in Medicare payment calculations. Under Medicare’s hospital-acquired condition program, hospitals are rated on their performance on ten safety indicators. Regulators, however, feared that doing so based on hospital performance during the pandemic might penalize hospitals whose communities were especially hard hit by the pandemic. Patient safety groups opposed CMS’s April proposal to withhold the data and the [...]

iqtsupport2022-08-05T09:04:52-04:00August 5, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, hospitals, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, August 2

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Tuesday, August 2. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House has announced two new actions to address the youth mental health crisis: it will award nearly $300 million from the FY 2022 bipartisan omnibus agreement to expand access to mental health services in schools and it will encourage governors to invest more in school-based mental health services. Learn more about this effort, including the individual funding components of the $300 million in new [...]

iqtsupport2022-08-02T16:39:35-04:00August 2, 2022|Affordable Care Act, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, post-acute care|

Congress Seeks Bigger Bump for Medicare Hospital Payments

More than 140 members of Congress have written to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure asking her to implement a bigger increase in Medicare payments for hospital inpatient services than the agency has proposed for FY 2023. According to separate bipartisan letters from House and Senate members, the proposed FY 2023 increase – 2.8 percent – fails to reflect inflation and rising health care staffing costs. The letter signed by 112 House members states that We worry the proposed payment updates do not accurately reflect today’s cost of patient care and, when tethered with other policy changes [...]

iqtsupport2022-07-29T06:00:15-04:00July 29, 2022|hospitals, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, July 27

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Final Medicare Payment Regulations for FY 2023 CMS has issued its final FY 2023 Medicare inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) payment system regulation, finalizing a rate increase of 3.9 percent, which is greater than the 2.8 percent the agency proposed in April. To learn more about CMS’s final IRF payment rule for FY 2023, see this CMS fact sheet and the final rule itself. CMS also has finalized its [...]

iqtsupport2022-07-27T17:34:40-04:00July 27, 2022|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicaid long-term services and supports, Medicaid managed care, Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care, Telehealth|

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 Tuesday, July 12

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 12. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House The White House has issued an executive order on protecting access to reproductive health care services. Find that executive order here. In support of that executive order, CMS has published guidance titled “Reinforcement of EMTALA Obligations specific to Patients who are Pregnant or are Experiencing Pregnancy Loss.” Find that guidance here and the agency’s expanded explanation of that guidance in this memo to state survey agencies. [...]

iqtsupport2022-07-12T17:24:37-04:00July 12, 2022|COVID-19, health equity, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy|

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|