The CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization Rules
Podcast — Drug Pricing: How Are Payers Responding to the IRA?
Findings from Gibbins’ Annual Healthcare Bankruptcy Report
A Fond Farewell: Musings on the End of the Medicare Advantage Hospice Carve-In Demonstration
Video: Braidwood v. Becerra – Challenging the Affordable Care Act’s Preventive Services Coverage Provision – Thought Leaders in Health Law
Hospice and Home Health Survey Perspectives: A Conversation with Kim Skehan, VP of Accreditation at CHAP
Transparency and the Open Payments Program
Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 173: Improving rural health care with Dr. Kevin Bennett, the Director of the Research Center for Transforming Health and the
Counsel That Cares - The Private Payer's Perspective on Value-Based Care
Podcast: Health Equity – Behind the Buzzwords – Diagnosing Health Care
A Very “Special” Episode: Amid Controversy, CMS Launches the Hospice Special Focus Program
Grace from CMS: Unexpected Good News on HIS and CAHPS Appeals
This Bandwagon Has a Broken Wheel: OIG Joins the Inconsistent Approach to Hospice GIP Claims
Behind the Curtain: Enhanced Provider Enrollment Oversight
Survey Woes: CMS Ramps Up Hospice Survey Program and Consequences
Inflation Reduction Act’s Drug Price Negotiation Provisions – What Now? – Diagnosing Health Care Podcast
A Glimpse Into the Other Side: Understanding the Perspective of Government Enforcers
I Understood There Would Be No Math: Audits, Extrapolations, and a New Set of Rules
Podcast: Inflation Reduction Act’s Drug Price Negotiation Provisions – What’s Next? - Diagnosing Health Care
Quick Takeaways From the 2024 Proposed Hospice Wage Index Rule
On May 22, 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced that it would be implementing updated 2024 spousal impoverishment standards that will take effect on July 1, 2024....more
On May 21, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new option on CMS.gov to allow individuals to more easily file an Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) complaint. Before launching the...more
Although often well-intentioned, offering free or discounted items or services to patients (e.g., gifts, rewards, writing off copays, free screening exams, free supplies, etc.) may violate federal and state laws governing...more
The HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on Sept. 7 announced a proposed rule to bar discrimination based on disability.[1] “The rule, Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability in Programs or Activities Receiving Federal...more
On January 17, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the CMS Interoperability and Prior Authorization final rule (Final Rule) (fact sheet, CMS’ interoperability website), which aims to improve prior...more
On December 7, 2023, the Senate Budget Committee (the “Committee”) launched a bipartisan investigation into the reality of private equity ownership of hospitals in the United States. This investigation stems from concerns...more
After months of relative uncertainty, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) published a Notice confirming the end to a COVID-19 pandemic-era flexibility that allowed unregistered child sites to utilize 340B...more
I. WHY THIS CASE MADE THE LIST - A highly publicized and long-running multi-agency action against the former Chief Executive Officer and the former Chief Operating Officer of Theranos Inc. resulted in criminal convictions...more
On March 24, 2023, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) issued Advisory Opinion 23-03 (the “Opinion”), in which it decided not to impose sanctions on an Arrangement to provide prepaid gift cards to patients for certain...more
As many are aware, compliance with price transparency requirements continues to lag. Under the final rule, effective January 1, 2021, hospitals are required to provide clear, accessible pricing information online about the...more
Starting July 1, 2023, The Joint Commission (TJC) will set health equity as a National Patient Safety Goal for certain TJC-accredited organizations and roll out a new Health Care Equity certification program to recognize and...more
Introduction: Defining Interprofessional Consultation - In a January 5, 2023, letter to state health officials, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) clarified a Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance...more
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare coverage expanded to include a vast arsenal of tools that help patients access medical services while keeping patients and practitioners safe. Many of these tools involve telehealth...more
On September 29, 2022, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 1278, which requires physicians and their employers to provide patients with notices about the Open Payments database starting January 1, 2023. ...more
On May 17, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision vacating the Accumulator Adjustment Rule, regulations issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in December 2020 as part...more
Executive Summary - The California Department of Managed Health Care (“DMHC”) issued a recent guidance interpreting the application of the No Surprises Act (“NSA”)—a new federal law prohibiting out-of-network healthcare...more
On February 24, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it had redesigned the Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model for 2023. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation...more
On February 24, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center announced a Request for Applications (RFA) for the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Realizing Equity, Access, and Community...more
On February 24, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its redesign of the Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model (GPDC), which now will be called the Accountable Care Organization (ACO)...more
Hello readers! Today’s post focuses on a topic we’ve touched on a few times in the past – Medicaid drug formularies. Back in December 2021, the state of Oregon released a draft Medicaid waiver proposal that caught the...more
In our November 9, 2021, blog post on the No Surprises Act (“NSA”), we discussed new consumer protections against surprise out-of-network bills. In addition to protecting insured consumers from balance billing, the NSA...more
When the surge of COVID-19 patients threatened to strain the nation’s health care systems, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) implemented the Acute Hospital Care at Home Program, or Hospitalization at Home...more
On October 13th our friends over at STAT broke the news [sorry, Paywall] about a “warranty” pilot program from Pfizer that offers both patients and health plans (including Medicare Part D plans) the opportunity to receive a...more
Over a year after the declaration of a nationwide public health emergency due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic, providers are in a position to offer patients a variety of COVID-19 medical services,...more
In our December 7, 2020 Blog Post, “Permanent Expansion of Medicare Telehealth Services,” we discussed the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule (the “Final Rule”) and the regulatory changes made therein by the...more