This week, CMS proposes continued 90% funding for Medicaid eligibility and enrollment system development. Montana is on the verge of becoming the 29th state (plus D.C.) to expand Medicaid eligibility, and Florida Governor...more
The Senate on April 14 passed H.R. 2, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, which eliminates the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) physician payment system and transitions it away from fee-for-service...more
Were you worried that your physician pay rate would plummet come March 31 due to Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (“SGR”) formula? You can stop pulling out your hair, at least until next year. On April 1, 2014, President...more
While I didn’t intend for the theme of my Health Care Law Today posts to be delays, there is no shortage of postponements to write about lately. The House and Senate passed H.R. 4302, Protecting Access to Medicare Act of...more
Today the House of Representatives passed by voice vote H.R. 4302, which would temporarily delay the 24% cut to Medicare physician payments resulting from the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula for one year. MGMA has...more
On Sunday, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) turned four. Unsurprisingly, Democrats celebrated the law’s birthday by touting its many successes and Republicans used it to highlight the problems the law has faced, as well as...more
This week President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2015 Budget Proposal, which provides useful information on his priorities for the year but, as is normally the case, is not likely to gain much traction; the administration...more
Will physicians finally be free from worrying that their Medicare payments will be severely slashed? During the first week in February, Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate agreed on a...more
On February 6, 2014, lawmakers reached an agreement to overhaul the Medicare physician payment system. The current sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula requires an annual cut in physician payments, which Congress typically...more
In This Issue: Implementation of the Affordable Care Act; Other Federal Regulatory Initiatives; Other Congressional and State Initiatives; Other Health News; and Hearings and Mark-Ups Scheduled. Excerpt from...more
The end of 2013 proved a remarkable, albeit brief, period of bipartisanship as the Committees of jurisdiction worked together to adopt legislative solutions to several pressing national health care concerns. While the last...more
President Obama Signs Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013 – On December 26, 2013, President Obama signed the Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013 (the “Act”), preventing the scheduled payment reduction for...more
The deadline to enroll in coverage for January 1 was officially extended by a week, but the new December 23 deadline is fast approaching, and premium payments are required to be paid by the last day of 2013 for January 2014...more
On December 12, 2013, the Senate Finance Committee and House Ways and Means Committee both approved legislation that would reform the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula currently used for Medicare physician payments. ...more