Legislation

News CMS to Expand Successful Ambulance Program Integrity Payment Model Nationwide Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program: Become a Medicare Enrolled Supplier COVID-19: Maintaining Safety, Critical Care Load-Balancing, & Behavioral Health National Cholesterol Education Month & World Heart Day Claims, Pricers & Codes Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program: Valid Claims Events CMS-CDC Fundamentals of COVID-19 Prevention for Nursing Home Management Call — September 24 MLN Matters® Articles 2021 Annual Update of Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) Codes for Skilled Nursing Facility [...]

CMS Announces New Guidance for Safe Visitation in Nursing Homes During COVID-19 Public Health Emergency CMS Announces Transformative New Model of Care for Medicare Beneficiaries with Chronic Kidney Disease CMS Announces Innovative Payment Model to Improve Care, Lower Costs for Cancer Patients CMS Announces New Guidance for Safe Visitation in Nursing Homes During COVID-19 Public Health Emergency On September 17, CMS issued revised guidance providing detailed recommendations on ways nursing homes can safely facilitate visitation during the coronavirus [...]

News SNF Healthcare-Associated Infections Measure: Submit Comments by October 14 Participate in Medical Documentation Interoperability Pilot COVID-19 Lessons Learned & Infectious Disease Surge Annex Template Healthy Aging® Month: Discuss Preventive Services with Your Patients Prostate Cancer Awareness Month Events Dementia Care Call — September 22 MLN Matters® Articles October 2020 Update of the Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System New Waivers for Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Hospitals, Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs), and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) due [...]

Independent Nursing Home COVID-19 Commission Findings Validate Unprecedented Federal Response CMS Offers Comprehensive Support for Oregon due to Wildfires Protect Yourself & Your Patients from Flu this Season Independent Nursing Home COVID-19 Commission Findings Validate Unprecedented Federal Response On September 16, CMS received the final report from the independent Coronavirus Commission for Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes (Commission), which was facilitated by MITRE. CMS also released an overview of the robust public health actions the agency has [...]

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance to state Medicaid directors designed to advance the adoption of value-based care strategies across their healthcare systems and align provider incentives across payers. Under value-based care, providers are reimbursed based on their ability to improve quality of care in a cost-effective manner or lower costs while maintaining standards of care, rather than the volume of care they provide.  Value-based care arrangements may also permit providers to address [...]

The CMS Innovation Center announced the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Model. The approximately 57 million Americans living in rural communities, including millions of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, face unique challenges when seeking health care services, such as limited transportation options, shortages of health care services, and an inability to fully benefit from technological and care-delivery innovations. Current regulations and volume-based payment structures perpetuate these challenges, with unsustainable financial models leading to over 130 rural hospitals [...]

  AAOS Advocacy in Action Closed out our In-District Advocacy Event with 1,400 orthopaedic surgeon advocates, 4,200 letters to policymakers, and more than 150 meetings with members of Congress during the month of August. Continued to voice concern and enlist AAOS members in advocacy efforts to preserve the value of musculoskeletal care services, which may be reduced if recently proposed payment policy changes are finalized.       The Bone Beat New Episode Conversations on health policy issues affecting musculoskeletal [...]

News CMS Care Compare Empowers Patients When Making Important Health Care Decisions Open Payments: Adding 5 Provider Types in 2021 Breast Re-Excision: Comparative Billing Report in September Events CMS-CDC Fundamentals of COVID-19 Prevention for Nursing Home Management Call — September 10 Dementia Care Call — September 22 MLN Matters® Articles October 2020 Update of the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) Update to Hospice Payment Rates, Hospice Cap, Hospice Wage Index and Hospice Pricer for FY 2021 Inpatient Rehabilitation [...]

News CMS Acts to Spur Innovation for America’s Seniors Hospital Opioid Toolkit CMS Offers Comprehensive Support for California due to Wildfires PEPPERs for Short-term Acute Care Hospitals Office Visits by Nurse Practitioners: Comparative Billing Report Events Dementia Care Call — September 22 MLN Matters® Articles 2021 Annual Update for the Health Professional Shortage Area (HPSA) Bonus Payments Annual Clotting Factor Furnishing Fee Update 2021 Claim Status Category and Claim Status Codes Update Implement Operating Rules - Phase III Electronic [...]

Finalized policy changes expand new technology add-on payment pathway for certain antimicrobials On September 2, CMS issued the FY 2021 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System and Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) final rule, which includes important provisions designed to ensure access to potentially life-saving diagnostics and therapies for hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries. The changes will affect approximately 3,200 acute care hospitals and approximately 360 LTCHs. CMS estimates that total Medicare spending on acute care inpatient hospital services [...]