With a bold finish, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) crossed the finish line of its race to modernize and clarify the regulations interpreting the federal physician self-referral law (Stark) and anti-kickback...more
11/27/2020
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Physicians ,
Proposed Rules ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Safe Harbors ,
Stark Law ,
Value-Based Care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on Sunday that it immediately is suspending its Advance Payment Program to Part B suppliers and reevaluating all pending and new applications under the Part A...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an interim final rule, Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (April 6), that makes...more
To enable healthcare entities to address the unique and exigent circumstances created by the COVID-19 public health emergency, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued waivers of sanctions...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on March 22, 2020 that it is granting reporting exceptions and extensions for measure reporting and data submission in Medicare quality reporting programs in...more
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) made great strides in its race to modernize and clarify the regulations interpreting the federal physician self-referral law (Stark), Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and...more
12/18/2019
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Comment Period ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
OIG ,
Physicians ,
Proposed Rules ,
Safe Harbors ,
Stark Law ,
Value-Based Care
Summer was no vacation for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The agency released a series of significant rules that signal the nature and pace of CMS Medicare payment and policy changes for hospitals and...more
8/25/2017
/ Bipartisan Budget Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization (MACRA) ,
MIPS ,
Physicians ,
Quality Payment Program (QPP) ,
Rulemaking Process ,
Trump Administration ,
Value-Based Payments
On June 30, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a much anticipated rule outlining proposed payment and policy changes to the new Medicare Part B Quality Payment Program (QPP) that was created by the...more
This most recent delay raises questions concerning how the Trump administration intends to implement value-based payment in the Medicare program.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has delayed again the...more
In the final months of the Obama administration, CMS released rules of significant import to healthcare providers, including a final rule explaining how the Quality Payment Program mandated by the Medicare Access and CHIP...more
When Tom Price assumes the top post at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) later this month (subject to Senate confirmation), the ink will barely be dry on a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare &...more
The 21st Century Cures Act signed into law on December 13, 2016 is gaining significant attention as landmark legislation promoting medical innovation. But the massive Cures Act goes much further and includes some relief...more
Now that the rule is out, work to implement the BBA changes begins in earnest.
CMS commemorated the one-year anniversary of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA) with the traditional gift of paper, offering...more
The countdown has begun for the momentous Part B payment reforms created by the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). On October 14, 2016, CMS released a final rule explaining, in nearly 2,400 pages,...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published a proposed rule that furthers the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ goal to promote cooperative, value-based care and tie at least 50 percent...more
For those in the hospital industry hoping for additional clarity regarding the operation and billing of provider-based departments (PBDs), the CY 2017 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) Proposed Rule provides some...more
This month, hospitals impacted by Section 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA) may finally get a glimpse of what the future holds for the off-campus departments they operated or were developing when the BBA was...more
In its calendar year 2016 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule published in the Federal Register on November 16, 2015 (Final Rule), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized amendments to the federal...more
While Medicare’s path toward pay for performance (P4P) has evolved over time, 2015 is proving to be a landmark year. July marked the 50th anniversary of the Medicare program. And in self-described “historic announcements”...more
10/28/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Fee-for-Service ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization (MACRA) ,
MIPS ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pay-for-Performance ,
Value-Based Purchasing
On July 15, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the calendar year (CY) 2016 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule. In addition to updating several traditional Part B payment policies, the...more
7/28/2015
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
CLIA ,
Compliance ,
FQHC ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Part B ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
Physicians ,
Rural Health Care Providers ,
Self-Referral ,
Stark Law ,
Tuomey