Each year, the health plans that participate in Medicare Advantage (MA) program compete vigorously for new members. This vigorous competition has fueled the program’s 10% annual growth rate in recent years. MA plans can...more
Medicare Advantage (MA) is the private plan option in the Medicare program. Enrollment in the program has grown nearly 10% a year in recent years and now tops 25 million. More than one-third of Medicare beneficiaries (people...more
Medicare Advantage (MA) is the rapidly growing private plan option in the Medicare program. More than one-third of all Medicare beneficiaries choose MA — more than 24 million people. The program has grown nearly 10% year over...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued guidance on how health insurers must report and rebate recoveries obtained from the federal government under the Supreme Court’s 8-1 decision in Maine Community...more
On August 31, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule to align Medicare coverage decisions with breakthrough technologies approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), thereby speeding...more
On June 3, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) announced long-awaited policies to address the impact of COVID-19 on its ongoing models, as well...more
Medicare Advantage (MA) is the private plan option in the Medicare program. Over the last few years, the program has grown rapidly, nearly 10% a year. More than one-third of Medicare beneficiaries (people with Medicare) have...more
On February 5, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed several interesting tweaks to the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare Part D programs through an 895-page proposed regulation, Contract Year 2021...more
Over the last five years, clinicians, health plans and policymakers have ramped up their focus on the social determinants of health (SDOH). SDOH are non-medical factors (food security, housing security, reliable access to...more
New payment models – both voluntary and mandatory – are on the way for Medicare-participating providers treating kidney disease and offering radiation oncology services.
On July 10, the White House, in conjunction with the...more
On April 24, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a memo to Medicare Advantage (MA) plan sponsors detailing the scope of Special Supplemental Benefits for the Chronically Ill (SSBCI). Established by the...more
On April 22, The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (the Innovation Center) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new Primary Cares Initiative, with two new payment models aimed at...more
Medicare Advantage, the private plan option in the Medicare program, is growing rapidly. Currently, 22 million people choose Medicare Advantage — more than one third of people with Medicare — and that number is expected to...more
On October 26, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a 362-page proposed regulation that makes changes to three expected areas:
- New telehealth flexibilities for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans....more
The Trump Administration released a draft regulation published in the Federal Register on October 18, 2018, which proposes to require drug manufacturers to include a drug’s list price in its direct-to-consumer (DTC)...more
A provision included in the recently enacted budget law will now make it much easier for Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to offer a wide array of supplemental benefits within their plans. This will create new opportunities for...more
On November 13, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its Risk Corridors payment and charge amounts for the 2016 benefit year. This event is significant in that it both acknowledges and quantifies...more
On Friday, October 27, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published its draft annual Proposed Notice of Benefits and Payment Parameters for Calendar Year 2019. This proposal follows on the heels of a Request...more
Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its draft 2019 Medicare Advantage application. Health plans seeking to participate in the Medicare Advantage (MA) program for the first time or expanding...more
Even with the prospect of Obamacare repeal and replace on the backburner for now, the federal government continues to focus on health care. Following August recess, Congress will have less than four weeks to work through...more
On May 30, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it reached a settlement with commonly-owned Freedom Health Inc. and Optimum Healthcare, Inc. (Freedom Health) — two Tampa, Florida, managed care plans — to settle...more
On April 13, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its Marketplace Stabilization Rule. This is the first Trump administration regulation that applies to the health insurance markets remade by...more
On February 15, President Trump and new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Tom Price released their first proposed regulations addressing the Affordable Care Act (ACA). While remaining committed to...more
Based on QHP Certification instructions issued on July 22, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will collect administrative and performance data from health insurers that participate in the federally-run...more
During the holiday season lull, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a weighty document. The agency put out a draft statement of work to procure Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) for the Medicare...more