Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General

Federal Health Policy Update for March 13

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for March 7-13. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Funding the Federal Government Unless Congress passes spending legislation, funding for the federal government will expire at 12:01 a.m. this Saturday, March 15. This week, the House passed a continuing resolution that would fund the federal government through the end of the 2025 federal fiscal year. The bill extends telehealth flexibilities, the Acute Hospital Care at Home program, and other health extenders through September 30, 2025. The bill also delays cuts to [...]

joe2025-03-13T15:54:07-04:00March 13, 2025|Affordable Care Act, Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, Congress, hospitals, MACPAC, 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, Telehealth|

Federal Health Policy Update for Thursday, September 23

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 23. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Provider Relief Fund HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration has posted new information about planned distributions of additional COVID-19 supplemental funding for health care providers through the Provider Relief Fund and for qualified rural hospitals through funding made available through the American Rescue Plan. Included in the new posting is information about: Web events to explain what the agency is doing and what providers must do to pursue [...]

iqtsupport2021-09-23T17:39:28-04:00September 23, 2021|Coronavirus, COVID-19, MACPAC, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Telehealth|

OIG: Medicare Errs in Paying for Some Skilled Nursing Care

Medicare is erroneously paying for skilled nursing facility care for beneficiaries who did not spend three nights in an acute-care hospital, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General has concluded. Based on a limited sampling, the OIG estimates that Medicare spent $84 million on such ineligible services from 2013 through 2015. A new report from the OIG explains that We attribute the improper payments to the absence of a coordinated notification mechanism among the hospitals, beneficiaries, and SNFs to ensure compliance with the 3-day rule. We noted that hospitals did not always provide correct [...]

iqtsupport2019-02-28T06:00:33-05:00February 28, 2019|Medicare reimbursement policy|

HHS Seeks Feedback on Anti-Kickback Challenges

The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a request for information from health care stakeholders on how the federal government might modify current safe-harbor and anti-kickback laws and regulations in ways that might promote the provision of better health care at lower costs. The RFI explains that The Office of Inspector General (OIG) seeks to identify ways in which it might modify or add new safe harbors to the anti-kickback statute and exceptions to the beneficiary inducements civil monetary penalty (CMP) definition of “remuneration” in order to foster arrangements that [...]

iqtsupport2018-08-28T14:45:40-04:00August 28, 2018|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare, Medicare regulations|