Medicare DSH

Federal Health Policy Update for June 13

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for June 7-13. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government document. Supreme Court The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to how the Department of Health and Human Services calculates hospitals’ Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) payments. The case was added to the court’s 2024-2025 schedule. Congress Individual members and key committees in Congress continue to introduce and mark up health care-related legislation with an eye toward including these initiatives in an end-of-year package. This work is expected to continue through the [...]

joe2024-06-13T20:15:06+00:00June 13, 2024|Alternative payment models, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, health equity, hospitals, MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, Medicaid regulations, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|

Supreme Court to Review Medicare DSH Case

The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to how the federal government calculates Medicare disproportionate share hospital payments (Medicare DSH) for hospitals that serve especially large numbers of low-income patients. At the heart of the issue is the Department of Health and Human Services’ contention that patients who are enrolled in Social Security’s Supplemental Security Income program but are not receiving supplemental payments at the time of their admission to a hospital should not count toward a hospital’s percentage of low-income patients in the calculation of Medicare DSH payments. A 2022 federal appeals court decision supported HHS’s approach. Learn more [...]

joe2024-06-12T15:01:06+00:00June 12, 2024|Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH|

MedPAC Recommends Medicare Rate Updates to Congress

Some health care providers deserve larger Medicare payments in 2025, some should receive payment cuts, and others should see their payments go unchanged according to new recommendations from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission to Congress. In its annual report to Congress, MedPAC recommended the following changes in Medicare rates for 2025: Medicare inpatient rates – the rate increase currently scheduled by law for 2025 plus 1.5 percent. Medicare outpatient rates – the rate increase currently scheduled by law for 2025 plus 1.5 percent. Medicare physician rates – the rate increase for physician and other health professional services currently scheduled by [...]

joe2024-03-19T21:02:54+00:00March 20, 2024|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Congress, hospitals, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Hospitals Continue to Protest Medicare DSH Cut

The regulation has already been finalized but hospitals continue to protest Medicare’s intention to reduce their Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) uncompensated care payments. The cut, proposed at $115 million in April, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposed it, ended up just shy of $1 billion in the final regulation. The major change, according to CMS, comes because the agency’s actuaries have projected a lower uninsured rate than when CMS proposed the $115 million cut in the spring. Medicare DSH payments are intended to help hospitals that care for especially large numbers of uninsured patients with the [...]

admin2023-08-17T06:00:38+00:00August 17, 2023|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy|

Federal Health Policy Update for August 3

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for July 29-August 3. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Medicare Payment Regulations CMS has issued a final rule updating Medicare payment policies and rates for inpatient and long-term-care hospital services under its inpatient prospective payment system and long-term care prospective payment system for FY 2024. The final rule increases hospital inpatient rates 3.1 percent and LTCH rates 3.3 percent in FY 2024. Other highlights include a nearly $1 billion cut in Medicare disproportionate share (Medicare DSH) and Medicare DSH uncompensated care [...]

admin2023-08-03T15:28:05+00:00August 3, 2023|Alternative payment models, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, COVID-19, health equity, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, Telehealth|

MedPAC Offers FY 2024 Rate Recommendations

Medicare rates would rise for some providers and fall for others based on recommendations made to Congress last week by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, the independent congressional agency that advises Congress on Medicare reimbursement matters. MedPAC’s rate recommendations to Congress and the administration, which it approved at its January 2023 meeting, are: Outpatient and inpatient prospective payment systems – under current law, the estimated increase would be about 2.9 percent; MedPAC proposes 2.9 percent plus one percent. Physician services – increase fees 50 percent of the projected increase in the medical economic index (MEI). Skilled nursing facilities – reduce [...]

admin2023-03-22T06:00:32+00:00March 22, 2023|Congress, hospitals, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC|

Hospitals Sue Over Medicare DSH Payments

Fifteen years ago, a federal court ruled that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was calculating Medicare disproportionate share payments (Medicare DSH) incorrectly and ordered the agency to fix the problem and reimburse eligible hospitals for the underpayments they had experienced. Now, after 15 years of waiting, 40 of those hospitals are suing for their money. In a suit filed in federal court, the hospitals outline the actions CMS has and has not taken to correct the problem and write that The agency's contractors have not performed the revised determinations required under the ruling and the rule and have [...]

admin2023-03-21T06:00:22+00:00March 21, 2023|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare reimbursement policy|

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 [...]

admin2023-03-16T17:31:47+00:00March 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|

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 [...]

admin2023-01-12T19:22:04+00:00January 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|

Federal Health Policy Update for October 6

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for the week of September 26 to October 6. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. 340B HHS must immediately end its significant cut in reimbursement for 340B-covered prescription drugs provided on an outpatient basis to eligible patients, a federal court has ruled, writing that “The prospective portion of the 2022 reimbursement rate shall be vacated because it is defective and because vacating this portion of the 2022 OPPS Rule will not cause substantial disruption” and that “HHS should not be allowed to [...]

admin2022-10-06T17:42:49+00:00October 6, 2022|340b, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, CMMI, COVID-19, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare disproportionate share, Medicare DSH, Medicare post-acute care, Medicare regulations, Medicare reimbursement policy, MedPAC, Telehealth|