Articles and Blogs

Coming This Week: CMS to Release Medicaid Block Grant Plan Expected on Thursday, CMS will announce a plan to overhaul Medicaid by letting states shift certain program funding to block grants. CMS Administrator Seema Verma has been very passionate about implementing a block grant option, as she said this was the pathway to give... READ MORE

Welcome to the new The Week in Washington! This newsletter will publish on Monday to review the past week’s news for Congress and the administration, as well as provide a preview for the upcoming week. Health Care on the Hill – What to Expect in 2020 Since 2020 is an election year, Congress traditionally... READ MORE

Give and Take: CMS Announces Repayment for 2019 Site-Neutral Cuts Yet Announces Same Cuts for 2020 This week, CMS announced that any hospital paid a lower amount for a routine clinic visit in 2019 due to implementation of the site-neutral payment policy will automatically be paid the difference from the older, higher amount. CMS... READ MORE

House and Senate Panels Announce Surprise Billing Fix On December 8, leaders from the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (“HELP”) and House Energy and Commerce committees announced an agreement on surprise billing legislation. The proposal is intended to end surprise billing of patients by creating a new system of dispute resolution that includes... READ MORE

For the fifth time, Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (“CCBHCs”) have received a short-term funding extension with Congress’ last-minute passage of a temporary government-wide spending bill. Funding for CCBHCs in this extension runs through December 20, 2019. This measure was signed into law late on November 21, just in the nick of time as... READ MORE

Passage of Temporary Funding Bill Ends Potential Shutdown Just hours before the previous short-term agreement was set to expire on November 21, President Trump signed a bill funding the government through December 20. This measure gives Congress four additional weeks to reach a consensus on how to fund the government in FY 2020. The... READ MORE

CMS Releases Price Transparency Rules On November 15, CMS issued a proposed and final rule, both intended to increase the transparency in pricing for health care providers. One of the rules is the Calendar Year (“CY “) 2020 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) final rule. The second rule is the Transparency in Coverage proposed... READ MORE

Federal Judges Strike Down Trump’s Conscience Rule for Health Providers On Wednesday, a federal judge voided the Trump administration’s “conscience rule” that would have allowed health care providers to refuse to participate in abortions, sterilizations or other types of care they disagree with on religious or moral grounds. HHS issued the conscience rule in... READ MORE

Talk Is Cheap: Funding Negotiations Stall as Spending Deadline Approaches This week, the Senate had planned to begin deliberations on a legislative package that includes funding for the Department of Health and Human Services for fiscal year (“FY”) 2020. However, when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) offered the motion needed to begin the debate,... READ MORE

Funding Bills Still in Limbo as Deadline Approaches Congress is rapidly approaching another deadline to fund the government. The government is slated to shut down in 27 days on November 21 when the latest stopgap funding measure expires. There are just 12 legislative days for Congress to be in session between now and then,... READ MORE