WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 20, 2016)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health released data detailing the quality of care received by people with Medicare Advantage by racial or ethnic group.
CMS
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 20, 2016)—Leaders of the Senate Finance Committee have asked the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to delay the next round of bidding-derived reimbursement cuts for rural and non-bid areas for an additional twelve months and to disclose specific indicators the agency is using to monitor possible beneficiary access issues under the Medicare bidding program for home medical equipment.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 20, 2016)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is pleased to offer the awardees in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative the opportunity to extend their participation in Models 2, 3 and 4 through September 30, 2018.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 14, 2016)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Monday its largest-ever initiative to transform and improve how primary care is delivered and paid for in America. The effort, the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) model, will be implemented in up to 20 regions and can accommodate up to 5,000 practices, which would encompass more than 20,000 doctors and clinicians and the 25 million people they serve.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 8, 2016)—Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Labor (DOL) and the Department of the Treasury announced key enhancements to the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC) template and Uniform Glossary. The improvements include an additional coverage example and language and terms to improve consumers' understanding of their health coverage.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 7, 2016)—Recently, the American Association of Respiratory Care, the American College of Chest Physicians and the National Association for Medical Direction of Respiratory Care submitted a reconsideration of the current Medicare National Coverage Determination for home ventilators, including bi-level devices to CMS.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 5, 2016)—In conjunction with the President’s visit to the National Rx Drug Abuse and Heroin Summit, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a rule to strengthen access to mental health and substance use services for people with Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage, aligning with protections already required of private health plans.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 5, 2016)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final Medicare Advantage and Part D Prescription Drug Program changes for 2017 that seek to provide stable payments to plans, and make improvements to the program for plans that provide high quality care to the most vulnerable enrollees.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 31, 2016)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last week it will test whether a new payment model for nursing facilities and practitioners will further reduce avoidable hospitalizations, lower combined Medicare and Medicaid spending and improve the quality of care received by nursing facility residents.
FRANKLIN, TENN. (March 31, 2016)—PlayMaker CRM, a cloud-based sales growth solution for post-acute healthcare providers, announces two upcoming educational webinars with well-known industry experts. These webinars are free to attend. Space is limited, so be sure to reserve your spot today!
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 30, 2016)—With a July 1 deadline looming for additional Medicare reimbursement cuts for suppliers in rural and other non-bid areas, there’s an urgent need to get House companion legislation to S. 2736 introduced with a strong round of original co-sponsors.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 24, 2016)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH) released a new interactive map to increase understanding of geographic disparities in chronic disease among Medicare beneficiaries.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 18, 2016)—Legislation to delay a new round of cuts to rural and non-bid area suppliers and provide additional fixes to the Medicare competitive bidding program for home medical equipment (HME) was introduced late yesterday in the Senate. The lead sponsors for the Patient Access to Durable Medical Equipment Act (S. 2736), are Senators John Thune (R-S.D.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.).
This bipartisan, non-controversial, and budget-neutral bill will:
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 16, 2016)—On March 15, CMS announced the new single payment amounts and began sending offers to winning bidders for the competitive bidding Round 2 Recompete and the national mail-order recompete for diabetic testing supplies.
The Round 2 Recompete and the national mail-order recompete contracts will become effective on July 1, 2016 and run through December 31, 2018, taking the place of original Round 2 and national mail order contracts currently in place.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 9, 2016)—The clock is ticking for the next round of cuts for providers in rural, non-bid areas: the July 1 cuts are just 2,719 hours away. In hopes of stemming these cuts before they cause further harm to providers and patients, AAHomecare has been working with Senator John Thune (R-S.D.) and Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) to stop the second cut so Congress can thoroughly examine the impact CMS’s plan is having.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 3, 2016)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the final annual Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for the 2017 coverage year, along with related guidance documents, as part of their ongoing efforts to promote healthy and stable markets that work for consumers and insurers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 3, 2016)—Program Integrity Enhancements to the Provider Enrollment Process (CMS-6058-P)
This proposed rule is part of CMS’s ongoing and continuous effort to prevent questionable providers and suppliers from entering the Medicare program and enhance our ability to promptly identify and act on instances of improper behavior.
CMS Tightens Screws on Home Health Fraud
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is making strides to crack down on home health fraud through data use and more site visits, the agency announced Monday. (Kourtney Liepelt/Home Health Care News)