COVID-19 public health emergency

Federal Health Policy Update for May 25

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for May 19-25. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress The House Energy and Commerce Committee has advanced to the full House two bills with significant implications for health care providers. H.R. 3561 calls for delaying $8 billion a year in Medicaid DSH cuts for two years – cuts scheduled to take effect in October; imposing site-neutral payments for drug infusion services provided in off-campus hospital outpatient departments; imposing stronger price transparency requirements on hospitals; and requiring hospitals to report selected ownership [...]

iqtsupport2023-05-25T15:37:35-04:00May 25, 2023|340b, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid regulations, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for May 11

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for May 5-11. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency DeBrunner & Associates has prepared a summary of the status of selected government health care waivers and flexibilities following expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency today. The DeBrunner summary covers telehealth, COVID-19 treatment and coverage, flexible hospital operations, long-term-care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and units, patient cost-sharing, and state Medicaid waivers. Find the summary here. CMS has sent a memo to state Medicaid and CHIP [...]

iqtsupport2023-05-11T14:13:44-04:00May 11, 2023|340b, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, hospitals, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for April 27

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for April 21-27. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. End of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency DeBrunner & Associates has prepared a summary of the status of selected government health care waivers and flexibilities upon the expiration of the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 11. The DeBrunner summary covers telehealth, COVID-19 treatment and coverage, flexible hospital operations, long-term-care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities and units, patient cost-sharing, and state Medicaid waivers. Find the summary here. CMS has posted a new FAQ that [...]

iqtsupport2023-04-27T18:37:44-04:00April 27, 2023|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicaid long-term services and supports, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Federal Health Policy Update for March 23

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for March 17-23. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. No Surprises Act After a February ruling in federal court that aspects of CMS’s implementation of the 2020 No Surprises Act contradicted the language of the act itself and unfairly favored payers over providers, CMS ordered a moratorium on new arbitration decisions for disputes filed on or after October 25, 2022 while it reviewed and revised its guidance on how payment disputes should be decided. Now, CMS has completed that task and issued [...]

iqtsupport2023-03-23T16:11:42-04:00March 23, 2023|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicare|

Federal Health Policy Update for March 16

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for March 13-16. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) MedPAC has published its “March 2023 Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy.” In this year’s report MedPAC considers the context of the Medicare program, including the near-term consequences of COVID-19 and the longer-term effects of program spending on the federal budget and the program’s financial sustainability. It evaluates payment adequacy and make recommendations concerning Medicare payment policy in 2024 for selected fee-for-service payment systems but explains that [...]

iqtsupport2023-03-16T17:31:47-04:00March 16, 2023|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid disproportionate share, Medicaid DSH, Medicaid DSH allotments, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

End of PHE Spells End of Additional Money to Care for COVID Patients

When the COVID-19 public health emergency ends on May 11, the 20 percent increase in Medicare payments to hospitals caring for Medicare patients suffering from the disease will end as well. In the first two years under this payment policy, which took effect in January of 2020, the federal government paid more than $23 billion to hospitals caring for COVID patients. Of that amount, 20 percent consisted of the supplemental payment. Learn more about the end of these additional payments and what it may mean for hospitals and Medicare beneficiaries from the Becker Hospital Review article “The 20% cut coming [...]

iqtsupport2023-02-22T06:00:27-05:00February 22, 2023|COVID-19, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for January 12

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for January 6-12. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Renewal of COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Declaration HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra has signed an order extending the previous declaration of a COVID-19 public health emergency. This declaration extends the emergency to April 11. The administration continues to assure stakeholders it will provide 60 days’ notice prior to the end of the public health emergency. MedPAC Medicare Rate Recommendations Every year MedPAC recommends to Congress rate increases for the different kinds of health care [...]

iqtsupport2023-01-12T19:22:04-05:00January 12, 2023|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

States Seek Certainty on End of PHE

The country’s states want a clearer idea of when the official COVID-19 public health emergency will end – and along with it, the continuous Medicaid eligibility that remains a major component of the federal attempt to ensure health care coverage for millions of Americans during the pandemic. Even though two administrations have now regularly renewed the PHE for three-month periods and the current administration has promised governors 60 days’ notice of when the PHE will end, the nation’s Medicaid directors have written to congressional leaders asking for Congress to “…provide states with certainty around the end of the Medicaid continuous [...]

iqtsupport2022-11-30T06:00:58-05:00November 30, 2022|COVID-19, Medicaid|

Federal Health Policy Update for October 27

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for the week of October 21 to October 27. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. 340B Responding to a federal court ruling that the federal government has shortchanged hospitals in its payments for 340B-covered prescription drugs, CMS has announced how it will compensate hospitals for its underpayments – at least for the 2023 fiscal year. According to CMS, it “…will apply the default rate (generally ASP plus 6%) to 340B-acquired drugs for the rest of the year. CMS also will reprocess claims [...]

iqtsupport2022-10-27T17:06:24-04:00October 27, 2022|340b, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, CMMI, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicaid regulations for long-term care, Medicare, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, post-acute care|

COVID Pandemic: It’s Over? It’s Not?

An average of 400 daily COVID-related deaths. The potential loss of access to telehealth services. The need to redetermine Medicaid eligibility for people who benefited from the loosening of eligibility standards under the 2020 Family First Coronavirus Response Act. The upcoming commercialization of COVID vaccines. A promise to the nation’s governors of 60 days’ advance notice. These are among the reasons the federal government recently extended the declaration of the COVID-19 public health emergency for another 90 days. Becker’s Hospital Review takes a closer look at these and other reasons for the public health emergency’s extension in the article “HHS [...]

iqtsupport2022-10-18T06:00:47-04:00October 18, 2022|COVID-19|