Congress is officially in recess for the month of August and will return after Labor Day. On the regulatory front, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final fiscal year (FY) 2024 Inpatient...more
Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule (Final Rule) modifying the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective...more
On November 6, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the final rule regarding the end-stage renal disease (ESRD) prospective payment system (PPS) for renal dialysis services furnished to...more
On November 2, President Obama signed into the law the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (the “Act”), which contains language that will significantly change how hospital-based outpatient care is reimbursed....more
This Week: FDA Begins Device User Fee Talks with Patients and Consumers Sept. 15... CMS Extends Partial Enforcement Delay of Two-Midnight Policy Through 2015... Alaska Legislature Sues Governor Over Medicaid Expansion....more
On July 8, 2015, CMS published in the Federal Register [PDF] its proposed changes and updates to the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System policy...more
This Week: Senate Reauthorizes Older Americans Act; Bill Heads to the House... White House Holds 2015 Conference on Aging and Launches Several New Administration Healthy Aging Initiatives Enveloping Alzheimer’s, Dementia,...more
This Week: 21st Century Cures Legislation Passes House in Bipartisan Vote... CMS Releases Proposed CY 2016 Home Health Prospective Pay Rule... CMS Releases Final CY 2016 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS)...more
On July 1, CMS published proposed changes to the so-called “Two-Midnight Rule,” which currently governs when inpatient hospital admissions are entitled to Medicare Part A payment. The proposed changes were announced in a...more
On June 26, 2015, CMS released a Proposed Rule to increase payments by 0.3% for end-stage renal disease (ESRD) care providers in 2016 under the ESRD Prospective Payment System (PPS) for renal dialysis services. CMS estimates...more
On Friday, April 24, 2015, CMS released Medicare’s Inpatient Psychiatric Facility (IPF) Prospective Payment System (PPS) proposed rule for FY 2016. CMS estimates that payments to IPFs under the proposed rule would increase...more
On April 17, 2015, CMS released a proposed rule (Proposed Rule) to update the fiscal year (FY) 2016 Medicare payment policies and rates under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital...more
Several government agencies have voiced concerns related to the level of therapy services necessary to care for residents of Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs). The level of therapy services indicated for SNF residents...more
On November 6, 2014, CMS published its final Medicare home health prospective payment system (HH PPS) rule for calendar year (CY) 2015. As highlighted below, notable changes in the HH PPS final rule [PDF] include: (1) a...more
On Friday, August 15, 2014, CMS officially announced the reopening of its Open Payments system and an extension of the covered recipient review/dispute period and subsequent data correction period. Our understanding is that...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published its proposed update of the Medicare home health prospective payment system (HH PPS) rates for calendar year (CY) 2015 in the July 7, 2014 Federal Register. In...more
On July 7, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") published proposed changes to the Medicare Home Health Prospective Payment System ("HH PPS") for calendar year 2015 ("Proposed Rule"). The Proposed Rule...more
CMS recently finalized a new PPS for Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) services. The implementation of the PPS was mandated by the ACA. Medicare currently pays FQHCs an all-inclusive rate for the professional...more
Citing the need to complement a portfolio of pilot projects that focus mostly on primary care and the inpatient setting, CMS released a Request for Information (RFI) on February 11th, seeking input on potential payment and...more
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met on December 12-13, 2013, to discuss draft recommendations regarding 2015 payment updates for Medicare providers. MedPAC, which is responsible for issuing an annual...more
Hospitals Lose Right to Bill Separately for Laboratory Tests for Outpatients - As part of its calendar year 2014 hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) policy changes, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid...more
The final physician fee schedule (PFS) and hospital outpatient department payment rules for FY 2014 clearly signal the continued intent by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to transform the healthcare...more
CMS has published its Calendar Year (CY) 2014 Final Rule for Medicare policy and payment rates for hospital outpatient prospective payment systems (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) services. This final rule with...more
On December 2, 2013, the Federal Register published CMS’s final rule regarding the home health prospective payment system (PPS) and home health quality reporting requirements. The final rule reduces payments under the PPS by...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued controversial new criteria for hospitals to use to determine whether a patient's stay in a hospital should be treated as an outpatient observation stay or...more