MedPAC

Federal Health Policy Update for Tuesday, June 15

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, June 15.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund Late last week HHS announced that it has increased the amount of time providers will have to report information and extended key deadlines for expending Provider Relief Fund payments for recipients that received payments after June 30, 2020.  The revised reporting requirements will be applicable to providers that received one or more payments exceeding, in the aggregate, $10,000 during a single payment-received period from the [...]

2021-06-15T17:31:26-04:00June 15, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for Thursday, June 3

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, June 3.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. White House Health Policy News Late last week the Biden administration released its proposed FY 2022 budget.  Most of the health care provisions had already been disclosed and discussed prior to the formal budget release.  For additional information about the proposed budget, see the following resources: A budget in brief document. An OMB summary. An OMB budget fact sheet. COVID-19 President Biden announced a “National Month of Action” [...]

Federal Health Policy Update for Wednesday, May 19

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday, May 19.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. NASH Advocacy NASH has written to all members of Congress urging them to contact Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra about directing more of its remaining CARES Act Provider Relief Fund money to private safety-net hospitals to help them serve their diverse, predominantly low-income communities during the COVID-19 emergency.  Go here to see NASH’s message to Congress. The White House COVID-19 The White House has posted a [...]

MedPAC Meets

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. last week to discuss various Medicare payment issues. Among the issues discussed at MedPAC’s April meeting were: Medicare skilled nursing facility value-based purchased program. Medicare alternative payment models (APMs). Medicare Advantage benchmark policy. Medicare indirect medical education (Medicare IME) payments. Medicare vaccine coverage and payments. Medicare payment for prescription drugs prescribed on an outpatient basis. Private equity and Medicare. Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule. 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 [...]

MedPAC Offers 2022 Rate Recommendations

MedPAC has recommended modest pay increases for some health care providers and no increases for others in its annual report on Medicare payment policy to Congress. In the report, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission recommends the following changes in Medicare rates for 2022: 2% increase for Medicare inpatient and outpatient services 2% increase for long-term-care hospitals no increase for doctors and other medical professionals no increases for ambulatory surgical centers, outpatient dialysis facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and hospices 5% reductions for home health agencies and inpatient rehabilitation facilities While MedPAC’s recommendations to Congress are not binding on the administration, its [...]

2021-03-18T13:00:08-04:00March 18, 2021|Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Too Many Medicare APMs?

MedPAC thinks maybe that’s the case. At the recent meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the agency’s commissioners suggested that they may recommend that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reduce its assortment of alternative payment model programs. As reported by MedPage Today, a draft of MedPAC’s June report to Congress states that The [Health and Human Services] Secretary should implement a more coordinated portfolio of fewer alternative payment models (APMs) that support the strategic objectives of reducing spending and improving quality. In recent years CMS’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has tested 54 different APMs; few [...]

2021-03-11T06:00:58-05:00March 11, 2021|Alternative payment models, MedPAC|

MedPAC Meets

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. last week to discuss various Medicare payment issues. Among the issues discussed at MedPAC’s March meeting were: Medicare beneficiary access to care in rural areas skilled nursing facility value-based purchasing program and proposed replacement streamlining CMS’s portfolio of alternative payment models balancing efficiency with equity in Medicare Advantage benchmark policy relationship between clinician services and other Medicare services revising Medicare’s indirect medical education payments to better reflect teaching hospitals’ costs Medicare’s vaccine coverage and payment separately payable drugs in the hospital outpatient prospective payment system MedPAC is an independent congressional agency [...]

2021-03-10T06:00:08-05:00March 10, 2021|Medicare, MedPAC|

MedPAC Meets

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. recently to discuss various Medicare payment issues. Among the issues discussed at MedPAC’s January meeting were: hospital inpatient and outpatient payments physician and health professionals payments the possible expansion of the post-acute transfer policy to hospice ambulatory surgical center, outpatient dialysis, and hospice payments Medicare payments for skilled nursing facilities, long-term hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and home health services the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s development and implementation of alternative payment models the future of telehealth after the COVID-19 public health emergency ends a status report on the Medicare Part [...]

MedPAC Meets

Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. to discuss a number of Medicare payment issues. MedPAC’s proposed Medicare 2021 payment recommendations dominated the December agenda, including: hospital inpatient and outpatient payments ambulatory surgical center payments physician and health professional payments hospice payments home health care payments inpatient rehabilitation facility payments long-term care hospital payments In addition, MedPAC discussed Medicare’s policy for transfers between post-acute-care facilities and hospice and received a staff update on the Medicare Advantage program. MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues involving Medicare.  While its recommendations are not binding [...]

MedPAC Meets

Last week the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission met in Washington, D.C. to discuss a number of Medicare payment issues. The issues on MedPAC’s October agenda were: the skilled nursing facility value-based payment system future research directions in hospice payments Medicare Advantage benchmark policy indirect medical education:  current Medicare policy, concerns, and principles for revising the evolution of Medicare’s advanced alternative payment models vertical integration and Medicare payment policy MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues involving the Medicare program.  While its recommendations are not binding on either Congress or the administration, MedPAC is highly influential in [...]

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