While the phrase “return to normal” is used in many different contexts, interestingly, it can now also be applied to the maximum payment adjustments that clinicians receive through the Merit-based Incentive Payment System...more
House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Advances 21 Bills. The markup included legislation around telehealth, Medicaid, workforce and rare diseases. Of note, the subcommittee advanced a bill that included an extension of...more
On February 9, 2024, Judge Trevor McFadden of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision holding that CMS miscalculated the Medicare reimbursement owed to five plaintiff hospitals for the...more
In this episode, Darlene Davis, Leah Richardson, and Andrew Ruskin unravel CMS’s proposed rule for the remedy for Medicare payments for drugs purchased under the 340B Program and reimbursed as hospital outpatient services....more
On July 7, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed rule Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System: Remedy for 340B-Acquired Drugs Purchased in Cost Years 2018-2022 to address how...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") recently announced its proposal to make a one-time lump sum payment of roughly $9 billion to 340B-covered entity hospitals that were impacted by the agency's unlawful...more
On July 7, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to implement a remedy in response to last year’s Supreme Court decision finding the Medicare Part B payment policy for hospitals in the 340B...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has revised its policy guidance on the coverage and payment for interprofessional consultations under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)....more
On July 13, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the calendar year (CY) 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) proposed rule (Proposed Rule). The Proposed Rule sets forth CMS’ plans to revise...more
In 2019, the Chair of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means (the “Committee”) asked the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC”), an independent congressional agency established in 1997 to advise Congress on...more
On July 31, 2020, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision reversing a lower court decision and upholding Medicare payment cuts to certain hospitals participating in the 340B drug pricing program that have been in...more
In this week’s episode, Darlene Davis, Andrew Ruskin, and Gabriel Scott discuss notable recent developments for reimbursement under the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) of drugs purchased under the 340B...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has expanded its payment program to provide emergency funding and increased cash flow to providers and suppliers that participate in Medicare based on historical Medicare payments...more
Late last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released the CY 2020 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) final rule [CMS-1717-FC]. While many hospitals had hoped for relief from recent...more
On September 17, 2019, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia awarded summary judgment in favor a group of more than 40 hospitals on their challenge to CMS’s decision...more
This past week, CMS confirmed it will continue the 2018 and 2019 underpayment policy for certain 340B covered entities unless the D.C. Court of Appeals upholds the lower court’s ruling that it is unlawful. In that case, CMS...more
CMS recently published its proposed Medicare outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) rule for calendar year (CY) 2019. The rule contains a number of "site-neutral" proposals that, if adopted, will result in lower...more
The Trump Administration on Feb. 12 released its Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 budget request, titled "An American Budget." Unlike last year's budget, which was released in late May, the release of this budget conforms to the typical...more
• Congress amended current law to prevent CMS from applying the “MIPS” payment adjustment to separately billed items like drugs and biologics, which will drastically reduce the total amount of payment adjustments to clinical...more
In November of last year, we wrote about a preliminary injunction being sought by hospital advocacy groups attempting to stop implementation of the Trump administration’s cuts to the 340B Drug Pricing Program (“340B...more
On November 13, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final rule, “Medicare Program: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has revised the two-midnight rule to create an exception that will allow payment under Medicare Part A for certain medically necessary hospital stays that do not extend...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
On September 30, 2015, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued its fifth report in five years on billings for therapy services in SNFs. The Medicare Payment System For...more
The Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (OIG) issued a report on September 30, 2015, that calls for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to reform payment for...more