DeBrunner & Associates stays abreast of all Medicare developments – often, before they even become “official” developments. We provide advice regarding the implications of proposed legislation and regulations for our clients, the likelihood of their adoption, and the possibility of successfully opposing those that pose problems. At the same time, we also look for opportunities to advocate proposals that would benefit our clients. Throughout such efforts, we work closely with our clients’ members of Congress, officials at CMS, and others and frequently have engaged in successful advocacy in support of or in opposition to newly proposed legislation or regulations, securing critical changes in both.

Our Medicare consulting encompasses a broad range of policy areas, including area wage index reclassifications, medical education payments, provider eligibility issues, changes in provider designation types (critical access, Medicare-dependent, sole-community), participation in demonstration and grant programs, new requirements dictated by the Affordable Care Act, and more.

DeBrunner & Associates also advises hospitals on their uncompensated care accounting. Under the Affordable Care Act, hospitals eligible for Medicare DSH began seeing those payments fall beginning in 2014, and they will decline even further in the coming years. How much they decline will depend on how much uncompensated care hospitals provide and how they account for that uncompensated care. DeBrunner & Associates helps hospitals review the data reporting requirements and structure their reporting in a manner that helps maximize their reported uncompensated care, thereby minimizing their loss of vital Medicare DSH revenue.