Medicare reimbursement policy

Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, December 21

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 21. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The White House The administration has announced new steps to protect Americans and help communities and hospitals battle the COVID-19 omicron variant. The major parts of this initiative include: Increasing support for hospitals by deploying 1000 Department of Defense medical personnel to hospitals during January and February and federal medical personnel to some states immediately; expanding hospital capacity; providing support to states to help hospitals create and license [...]

iqtsupport2021-12-21T16:36:50-05:00December 21, 2021|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for Thursday, December 16

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, December 16. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is releasing $9 billion in phase 4 Provider Relief Fund grants. Payments will average $58,000 for what HHS is calling “small” providers, $289,000 for medium providers, and $1.7 million for large providers. Learn more about the release of these funds from this HHS news release and go here for an explanation of how the agency calculated the payments. [...]

iqtsupport2021-12-16T16:47:23-05:00December 16, 2021|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, Coronavirus, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

MedPAC Meets

The government agency that advises Congress on Medicare payment matters met publicly in Washington, D.C. last week. During the virtual meeting, members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission discussed and debated future Medicare payments for: hospital inpatient services hospital outpatient services physician services ambulatory surgical center services outpatient dialysis hospice care skilled nursing facilities home health inpatient rehabilitation facilities long-term-care hospitals MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues involving Medicare. While its recommendations are not binding on either Congress or the administration, MedPAC is highly influential in governing circles and its recommendations often find their way [...]

iqtsupport2021-12-14T06:00:40-05:00December 14, 2021|Medicare, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for Thursday, December 9

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 9. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Update on Efforts to Delay Medicare Sequestration Cuts The Senate has advanced S 610, a bill that would: Extend the COVID-19-driven moratorium on the long-time two percent Medicare sequestration until the end of March 2022, reducing that sequestration from two percent to one percent from the beginning of April through the end of June 2022. Avoid the additional four percent sequestration necessitated by federal PAYGO rules by moving [...]

iqtsupport2021-12-09T16:47:04-05:00December 9, 2021|Congress, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicaid and housing for the disabled, Medicare cuts, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for Monday, December 6

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Monday, December 6. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The White House The White House has published a plan outlining the steps the administration will take to combat the delta and omicron variants of COVID-19 in the coming months. The major components of this plan are boosters for all adults, vaccinations for children, expanded free home testing, stronger public health protocols for international travel, workplace protections, rapid response teams to help battle rising cases, and supplying treatment [...]

iqtsupport2021-12-06T17:23:36-05:00December 6, 2021|Accountable Care Organization, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, November 23

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, November 23. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The White House The White House has posted a transcript of the November 22 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team and public officials. Go here for the slides presented during that meeting. Provider Relief Fund HHS announced that it has begun distributing $7.5 billion in American Rescue Plan rural payments to providers and suppliers that serve rural Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Medicare beneficiaries. [...]

iqtsupport2021-11-23T17:27:12-05:00November 23, 2021|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 reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Friday, November 19

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Friday, November 19. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress On Friday the House passed a $1.7 trillion social spending bill, H.R. 5376 - Build Back Better Act, with no Republican votes and all but one Democratic vote. The Congressional Budget Office score indicates that the health care policies in the bill are paid for by cuts in other health care programs. The bill includes nearly $300 billion in health care provisions, including: $57 billion to provide [...]

iqtsupport2021-11-19T17:30:27-05:00November 19, 2021|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Medicare reimbursement policy|

MedPAC Looks at Outpatient Payments

The question of whether Medicare should pay different rates for outpatient services delivered in different types of settings was very much on the minds of Medicare Payment Advisory Commission members during their public meetings last week. The issue has been around for a while: are there valid reasons for some facilities to be paid more for certain outpatient services than other facilities? Or should the payment rate for a given service be the same regardless of where that service is delivered? Does the site of the service matter – or should it? At issue are Medicare payments made to private [...]

iqtsupport2021-11-18T06:00:01-05:00November 18, 2021|Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

MedPAC Discusses Post-COVID Telehealth

Should Medicare continue to encourage the use of telehealth when the COVID-19 pandemic ends? Should it continue to pay for telehealth when the there is no “tele” in the service and it is audio only? And should Medicare pay different rates for visits in person, telehealth visits, and audio-only (that is, telephone) visits? These were among the questions addressed by members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission during their public meetings last week. Members also discussed the need for further analysis of the effectiveness of telehealth and audio-only visits, how to identify audio-only visits on Medicare claims, how to collect [...]

iqtsupport2021-11-17T06:00:10-05:00November 17, 2021|Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Monday, November 15

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Monday, November 15. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. The White House The White House has posted a transcript of the November 10 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team and public officials. Go here for the slides presented during that briefing. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services – Final Guidance on Shared/Co-Located Hospital Spaces In a memo to state survey agencies, CMS has published final guidance for the evaluation of compliance with the Medicare Conditions [...]

iqtsupport2021-11-15T17:19:23-05:00November 15, 2021|Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare reimbursement policy|