On December 8, 2016, CMS published the final version of the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) that hospitals and critical access hospitals (referred collectively as "hospitals" herein) must use to provide notice...more
On December 8, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON), which educates Medicare beneficiaries on the effect of outpatient status, particularly as...more
CMS is moving forward with implementing the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) as announced in its FY 2017 IPPS Final Rule [PDF] on August 2, 2016, and published in the Federal Register on August 22, 2016 (Final...more
CMS Releases Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice For Public Comment – CMS announced that the public has the opportunity to comment on the Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON). The MOON is a standardized form...more
On August 2, 2016, CMS issued its final rule addressing new payment rates and policies under both the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System...more
The Final Rule of the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implications for Care Eligibility Act of 2015 (Pub. L. 114-42) is scheduled to become effective October 1, 2016. Thereafter, hospitals and Critical Access...more
Hospitals now have additional time before they must meet federal requirements to provide written notice to Medicare patients who are receiving observation services. Congress passed the Notice of Observation Treatment and...more
CMS recently issued a proposed rule updating fiscal year (FY) 2017 Medicare payment policies and rates under the Medicare inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and the long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment...more
Illinois joins a growing number of states to pass laws requiring that hospitals provide notice to patients who are placed under observation status. 210 ILCS 86/6.09b As with the recent federal NOTICE Act, the laws respond to...more
President Obama has signed a new law intended to prevent Medicare beneficiaries from spending days in a hospital only to find that they hadn’t been admitted to the hospital at all – they were only under “observation.” This is...more
President Obama Signs Outpatient Status Notification Bill On August 6, 2015, President Obama signed the Notice of Observation Treatment and Implication for Care Eligibility (NOTICE) Act. This legislation requires hospitals...more