Policy Updates

Coronavirus Update for Tuesday, January 26

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 26. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS has updated its list of Medicare Administrative Contract prices for COVID-19 tests. To support clinicians during the COVID-19 public health emergency, CMS has extended the 2020 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exception application deadline to February 1. Go here for further information. CMS has updated its list of hospitals approved to participate in its Acute Hospital Care at Home program. CMS has updated its Medicare COVID-19 Data Snapshot, which reports [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-27T06:00:11-05:00January 27, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

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 [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-25T06:00:58-05:00January 25, 2021|Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, CMMI, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Coronavirus Update for Thursday, January 21

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 5:00 p.m. on Thursday, January 21. President Signs Executive Orders Late this afternoon President Biden signed a series of executive orders and actions to implement his administration’s approach to addressing COVID-19. The following is a look at the orders and what they say. Executive Order on Ensuring an Equitable Pandemic Response and Recovery Creates a COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force to address health equity and to “…prevent and remedy differences in COVID-19 care and outcomes within communities of color and other underserved populations.” Executive Order on a [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-22T08:45:43-05:00January 22, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Friday, January 15

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Friday, January 15. We also present a summary of selected aspects of the “American Rescue Plan” that President-elect Biden presented on Thursday night and an introduction to the newest members of his COVID-19 response team. Provider Relief Fund HHS has amended the reporting timeline for the Provider Relief Fund in response to passage of the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. Starting today, recipients may begin registering for gateway access to the reporting portal where they ultimately will submit their information in compliance [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-18T06:00:58-05:00January 18, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Feds Give States Direction for Addressing Social Determinants of Health

Federal laws, regulations, and programs offer numerous tools to states seeking to address social determinants of health through their Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Now, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has written to state Medicaid directors outlining those tools. In the 51-page letter, CMS notes that Many Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries may face challenges related to SDOH [social determinants of health], including but not limited to access to nutritious food, affordable and accessible housing, convenient and efficient transportation, safe neighborhoods, strong social connections, quality education, and opportunities for meaningful employment. There is a growing body of evidence [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-15T06:00:58-05:00January 15, 2021|Medicaid|

Coronavirus Update for Wednesday, January 13

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 13. Provider Relief Fund HHS has updated its Provider Relief Fund FAQ with nine new or modified questions on pages 12-13, 13, 15 (three questions), 40-41, 41, and 56. The new and modified questions address how changes of ownership affect providers’ ability to receive Provider Relief Fund grants and nursing home quality incentive payments; answer questions about audit deadlines and extensions; and describe the methodology for calculating Phase 3 distributions and the timing and size of those distributions. Providers that have received [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-14T06:00:43-05:00January 14, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Monday, January 11

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Monday, January 11. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has formally extended its declaration of the COVID-19 public health emergency for another 90 days, until April 21. HHS has announced the extension of its Community Based Testing Site program for COVID-19 testing. Through partnerships with national pharmacy and retail chains and service providers, this program has resulted in establishing more than 3,300 COVID-19 testing locations in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-12T06:00:49-05:00January 12, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Coronavirus Update for Wednesday, January 6

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 6. Provider Relief Fund The Office of Management and Budget has issued guidance on how funds received through the Provider Relief Fund should be audited. Entities that receive government grants of more than $750,000 are subject to a single audit requirement. Because of the Provider Relief Fund, many hospitals that have never been subject to this audit requirement now must comply with it. The deadline originally was October 1 but was postponed and it has now been delayed again until June 30. [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-07T06:00:37-05:00January 7, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|

Congress Approves New GME Slots

The year-end federal COVID-19 relief bill brought changes to Medicare’s graduate medical education program. Among those changes: 200 new GME slots over the next five years additional federal funding for residency training – the first new funding for the program in nearly a quarter of a century new opportunities for some hospitals to establish new (and higher) resident caps new flexibilities for rural hospitals to participate in physician training programs Learn more in the National Law Review article “COVID-19: Reimbursement Corner: Graduate Medical Education Gets Major Boost From Congressional Appropriations Bill.”

iqtsupport2021-01-06T06:00:33-05:00January 6, 2021|Medicare|

Coronvirus Update for January 4, 2021

The following is the latest COVID-19 information from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Monday, January 4. Provider Relief Fund HHS has updated its CARES Act Provider Relief Fund FAQ with six changes, all dated 12/28/2020. They can be found on pages 6 (accounting for Provider Relief Fund distributions), 16 (use of Provider Relief Fund grant money), 40 (HHS’s methodology for calculating Phase 3 distributions), 41 (two changes: one about how much providers should expect to receive from the Phase 3 distribution and the other about when providers can expect to receive their Phase 3 distributions), and 56 [...]

iqtsupport2021-01-05T06:00:00-05:00January 5, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19|