WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 1, 2022)—Building on the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities for a better health care system, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a redesigned Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model that better reflects the agency’s vision of creating a health system that achieves equitable outcomes through high quality, affordable, person-centered care.
Medicare
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 10, 2022)—Legislation to apply 90/10 blended Medicare reimbursement rate for home medical equipment (HME) in former competitive bidding areas (CBA) has been formally introduced in the United States House of Representatives. The DMEPOS Relief Act of 2022 (HR 6641) would boost rates for items in the 13 product categories whose bid results were not implemented in Round 2021. These increased rates would apply from Jan. 1, 2022 through Dec. 31, 2023.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (February 10, 2022)—The National Home Infusion Association (NHIA) is proud to announce that Sohail Masood, PharmD is the recipient of the 2022 Gene Graves Lifetime Achievement Award.
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (February 3, 2022)—The National Home Infusion Association (NHIA) appreciates the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services (CMS) publication, “HIT Monitoring Report, January 2022,” which summarizes utilization trends for the Medicare Part B home infusion therapy (HIT) services benefit over three years.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (February 3, 2022)—As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing efforts to expand Americans’ access to free testing, people in either Original Medicare or Medicare Advantage will be able to get over-the-counter COVID-19 tests at no cost starting in early spring. Under the new initiative, Medicare beneficiaries will be able to access up to eight over-the-counter COVID-19 tests per month for free.
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What group is especially vulnerable to the ravages of covid-19 even if fully vaccinated and boosted? Seniors. And who will have an especially tough time getting free at-home covid tests under the Biden administration’s plan? Yes, seniors.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 11, 2022)—The deadline for home health agencies to submit a request for an exemption from participating in the Home Health CAHPS (HH CAHPS) Survey for the CY 2023 Annual Payment Update (APU) is March 31, 2022.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 4, 2022)—The U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 17, 2021)—On November 16, Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) published the report titled, “Medicare Improperly Paid Suppliers an Estimated $117 Million Over 4 Years for Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies Provided to Hospice Beneficiaries.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 16, 2021)—Late last week, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), an advisory body to the U.S. Congress, verbally approved the following recommendations, with a formal vote will be taken at a January meeting. The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) has provided a summary of those recommendations:
GURNEE, IL. (December 15, 2021)—BrightStar Care, a nationwide franchise that provides in-home care, released key findings from an analysis conducted by Avalere Health, a leading U.S.-based health care analytics firm. The analysis evaluated BrightStar Care's client outcomes and cost benefits.
ATLANTA (December 14, 2021)—Aveanna Healthcare Holdings Inc., a diversified homecare platform focused on providing care to medically complex, high-cost patient populations, announced that it has successfully completed the acquisition of Comfort Care, a home health and hospice company with operations in Alabama and Tennessee, for $345 million, representing $290 million of value, net of the present value of approximately $55 million in estimated net tax benefits.
An argument for expanding, not curtailing, the benefit
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 10, 2021)—The U.S. Senate has approved legislation that keeps across-the-board 4% PAYGO cuts to Medicare reimbursement from taking effect in 2022. The House passed S. 610 on Dec. 8. the
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 9, 2021)—Leading health care providers have announced the national collaborative formerly known as the Next Gen ACO Coalition has a new identity as the Value Based Care Coalition. The rebranding reflects the coalition’s evolved commitment to advancing two-sided risk, total cost of care payment agreements with traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage and commercial payers.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (December 8, 2021)—The House of Representatives has passed the Protecting Medicare and American Farmers from Sequester Cuts Act (S. 610), legislation to keep across-the-board 4% PAYGO cuts to Medicare reimbursement from taking effect in 2022.
LANSING, Mich. (Nov. 18, 2021)—Amy Bassano, former deputy director for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, has joined national healthcare consulting firm Health Management Associates (HMA), taking the helm as a managing director of Medicare services.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 21, 2021)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has launched a new “one-stop shop” for state Medicaid agencies and stakeholders on medicaid.gov to advance transparency and innovation for home- and community-based services.
ATLANTA (October 19, 2021)— The home medical industry has made significant progress in recent months but still faces big challenges in Washington, including the threat of Medicare cuts and uncertainty about competitive bidding, Tom Ryan, president and CEO of the American Association of Homecare, said in his update at Medtrade East.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (September 30, 2021)—The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the Calendar Year (CY) 2022 participants in the Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model. There is a more than two-fold increase in the number of model enrollees covered by participating MA plans in 2022 compared to 2021.