House Energy and Commerce Republicans Voice Support for Health Extenders
On January 9, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing to examine a number of Medicare funding programs set to expire. In the recent past, Congress has annually renewed some 20 temporary programs (known as “Medicare extenders”) as part of a bigger extension of the Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”) formula.
Several policies, such as the low-volume hospital payment adjustment and the Medicare-dependent hospital program, drew support from a number of committee Republicans who cited the need to make these programs permanent. However, MedPAC Chairman Glenn Hackbarth questioned the design of the two programs and noted that some community hospitals can “double-dip” by getting special payments as sole community hospitals and also low-volume payments.
The Senate SGR replacement bill currently includes a number Medicare extenders, but the House SGR bill does not. Congress has until the end of March before the current SGR funding expires.
CMS Seeks to Restrict “Protected” Drug Classes
On January 6, CMS issued a proposed rule that would adjust the Medicare Advantage and Part D programs to help remove “consistently poor performers.” The 678-page proposed rule would require all doctors who prescribe to Medicare patients to be enrolled in Medicare Part D, which CMS will use to ensure that prescriptions are only prescribed by qualified doctors. It would also allow CMS to revoke a physician’s ability to participate in the program if they have a pattern of prescribing that is “abusive” or a “threat to the health” of Medicare beneficiaries or if their DEA registration has been revoked.
The new rules are proposed to take effect in Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2015. According to a CMS factsheet, the rule will be published in the Federal Register on January 10 with comments accepted through March 7.
Poison Control Programs Backed by House
On January 8, the House passed H.R. 3527, a bill that would reauthorize poison control programs. The legislation provides nearly $29 million annually from FY 2015 through 2019 for a poison control grant program. The grant program would enable poison control centers to use grant money for certain communications improvements. Federal support for poison control centers including grants were last reauthorized in 2008. The current authorization is scheduled to expire at the end of FY 2014.
Bills Introduced This Week
Sen. Mike Johanns (R-NE) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY) introduced a Senate bill that would require HHS to notify individuals within two business days if their personal information is compromised due to a security breach in a health insurance exchange. The legislation mirrors H.R. 3811, a bill the House passed on January 10.
Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) introduced a bill that would amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to modify the Medicare durable medical equipment face-to-face encounter documentation requirement.
Next Week in Congress
The congressional priority will be the development of a final FY 2014 spending bill, ahead of the January 15 end of stopgap funding. Health agency funding in the Labor-HHS component of the package will be the most controversial element due to Affordable Care Act and abortion funding opposition. Without the regular Labor-HHS spending allocations, lawmakers are likely to add stopgap provisions to extend health agency funding for the remainder of the fiscal year.
For more information, please contact John F. Williams, III at 317.977.1462 or jwilliams@hallrender.com.
Please visit the Hall Render Blog at http://blogs.hallrender.com for more information on topics related to health care law.
