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.
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)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 24, 2016)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released proposed changes for the Medicare Advantage and Part D Prescription Drug Programs in 2017 that will, if finalized, provide stable and fair payments to plans, and makes unprecedented improvements to the program for plans that provide high quality care to the most vulnerable enrollees.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 23, 2016)—As part of our efforts to improve care delivery, data sharing, and transparency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is releasing two public data sets regarding the availability and use of services provided to Medicare beneficiaries by ground ambulance suppliers and home health agencies, as well as a list of Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) providers and suppliers currently approved to bill Medicare.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 18, 2016)—Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), as part of a broad Core Quality Measures Collaborative of health care system participants, released seven sets of clinical quality measures. These measures support multi-payer alignment, for the first time, on core measures primarily for physician quality programs.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 18, 2016—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published a final rule that requires Medicare Parts A and B health care providers and suppliers to report and return overpayments by the later of the date that is 60 days after the date an overpayment was identified, or the due date of any corresponding cost report, if applicable.