On August 1, 2023, CMS issued its annual Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) Final Rule for FY 2024 (the Final Rule). In the Final Rule, CMS,...more
On August 1, 2022, CMS issued its annual Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System Final Rule for FY 2023 (the Final Rule). In the Final Rule, CMS...more
On April 18, 2022, CMS issued its annual Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule for FY 2023 (the Proposed Rule). In the Proposed Rule,...more
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Trump Administration as a whole, has placed a particular focus on the promotion of price transparency as a tool to control the costs of healthcare. In June, the...more
On August 2, 2019, CMS issued its annual Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System Final Rule for FY 2020 (the Final Rule). Highlights include...more
This week in Washington: House to hold hearings on surprise medical billing, drug pricing transparency and a single-payer health system....more
This week in Washington: House to hold hearings on PFAS contamination and exposure, the maternal mortality crisis and single-payer issues....more
CMS announced solicitation for applications for participation in the Rural Community Hospital Demonstration Program (Demonstration). In this request for applications, CMS is seeking information from interested hospitals...more
CMS is asking for feedback on how Medicare can make the health care delivery system simpler for patients and health care providers. This spring's Fiscal Year 2018 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the...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 August 2, 2016, CMS released a final rule (Final Rule) with updates to the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (Hospital IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) affecting...more
I. REGULATIONS, NOTICES, & GUIDANCE - On April 21, 2016, CMS issued a proposed rule entitled, “Medicare Program: FY 2017 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Requirements.” This...more
On October 30, 2015, CMS issued its final rule with comment period (Final Rule) for the Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) and the Medicare ambulatory surgical center (ASC) payment system for...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
The U.S. Government and Accountability Office (GAO) issued an October 2015 report to congressional committees concluding that the initial results of the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) program show “no apparent shift”...more
On July 31, 2015, CMS issued its final 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 (LTCH) Prospective...more
This Week: GOP Post-King Contingency Bills Released in Both the House and the Senate... House E&C Committee Draft LDT Bill – Creates FDA In Vitro Center, Sets Agency Review Timeline and Defines Risk Categories... CMS...more
This Week: House Ways & Means Committee Holds Markup; Makes Significant Legislative Changes to Health Care Bills... Senate Finance Committee Holds Markup on Medicare Appeals Process Bill... CMS Issues Final Rule on...more
This Week: Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Explores Post-Acute Bundling…CMS Releases First-ever Hospital Compare Star Ratings…Fiscal Year 2016 Proposed Inpatient and Long-term Care Hospital Policy and Payment Changes....more
On May 15, 2014, CMS published in the Federal Register its FY 2015 IPPS Proposed Rule [PDF], which included changes and updates to its Medicare IPPS policies. 79 Fed. Reg. 27978-28384. One change that CMS proposes is to amend...more
Each year when CMS publishes its proposed changes to the IPPS Rule, it suggests a number of graduate medical education (GME) and indirect medical education (IME) reforms. This year has been no different. As part of the IPPS...more
Deep within the proposed FY 2015 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule released a few weeks back is an interesting proposed new measure to the Medicare hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) program – elective...more
Recently, CMS released the proposed fiscal year 2015 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule for inpatient stays in long-term and general acute care hospitals. Included among the regular updates to Medicare payment...more