Chairman Camp Tells Hall Render Stark Law Reform Still Possible This Year
In a conversation held on Capitol Hill Tuesday evening, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) told Hall Render Federal Legislative and Regulatory Affairs attorney John Williams that health care fraud and abuse law reform is not completely off the table this year. Last month, word spread across Capitol Hill that reform would not be part of the bill to replace the Sustainable Growth Rate (also known as SGR or “doc fix”), and the law’s author, Congressman Pete Stark (D-CA), said through a spokesman that congressional involvement is “neither appropriate nor necessary at this time.” While Chairman Camp made clear he would not consider the reform issue until after the November elections, his comments indicate there is still hope that some type of fraud and abuse law reform will get done before Congress finishes its work at the end of this year.
House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee Approves Health Spending Bill
On July 18, the Labor-HHS subcommittee approved the FY 2013 spending bill. Through the inclusion of funding restrictions on the implementation of the health care law, the House measure substantially differs from the Senate-passed measure (S. 3295). The House bill includes lower spending levels for most health agencies, including a proposed $123 million cut in NIH funding. NIH is already facing a potential 7.8% cut on January 2, 2013 from the looming sequester. The House bill would also terminate the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality effective October 1, 2012.
Like the majority of the annual government spending bills, the Labor-HHS bill is unlikely to pass by October 1, 2012 when the new fiscal year begins. This means Congress will pass continuing resolutions to fund HHS at, or slightly below, FY 2012 levels.
Final Stage 2 Meaningful Use Rule Under Review
On July 16, CMS sent the final Electronic Health Record (“EHR”) Incentive Program – Stage 2 rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”). Regulatory review by OMB is usually the final step of the rulemaking process and indicates a rule is nearing publication. The proposed rule sets the minimum standards and implementation specifications that Certified EHR Technology will need to include to achieve “meaningful use” by eligible health care providers beginning in 2014.
Technical EHB Final Rule Released
On July 18, CMS released a final rule (CMS-9965-F) that outlines what the data health plans must provide to determine whether they meet essential health benefit standards. The rule also establishes a process for recognizing entities to certify qualified health plans. The much anticipated essential health benefits final rule has yet to be published by OMB.
CMS Announces Overhaul of Hospital Website
CMS announced it has overhauled its Hospital Compare website. According to CMS, the changes include updated quality data, ownership information and warnings of potential health risks associated with imaging services. The updates were required through the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”).
IOM Releases Study on Geographic Adjustments for Medicare Payments
On July 17, the Institute of Medicine (“IOM”) released a report concluding that revising the way Medicare payments are adjusted to account for regional variations would result in payment increases for some hospitals and decreases for others. The report claims that geographic adjustments should be used to ensure the accuracy of payments, but they are not optimal tools to tackle larger national policy goals like improving access to care in medically underserved areas.
The report, which was sponsored by CMS and HHS, also recommends that Medicare pay for telemedicine in underserved areas. IOM recommendations are often used in advance of Congressional legislation.
Bills Introduced This Week
H.R. 6107: Reps. Thompson (R-PA) and Rangel (D-NY) introduced a bill that would allow a physician working for the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) to provide telehealth services to a veteran living in a state in which the physician is not licensed to practice. The bill is intended to make it easier for VA physicians to provide telehealth services to veterans in geographically remote areas.
H.R. 6142: Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX) introduced a bill that would extend the Medicare physician pay rates for one year until 2013. Without an extension, physicians would see an almost 28% drop in rates when the current payment patch (PL 112-96) expires.
H.R. 6163: Rep. McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) introduced legislation amending title IV of the Public Health Service Act to provide for a National Pediatric Research Network.
Next Week in Washington
The House and Senate are both in session and will continue debate on the sequestration of discretionary spending and the fiscal 2013 health related spending bills. On the agency side, the speed with which recent health rules are rolling out indicates how quickly federal officials are moving since the Supreme Court upheld the ACA. With ACA mandated deadlines looming, look for continued announcements of proposed and final rules from HHS and CMS.
For more information, please contact John F. Williams, III at 317.977.1462 or jwilliams@hallrender.com.
