Articles and Blogs

Draft Bill Seeks to Increase Medicare Reimbursement for Telehealth On Monday, January 12, members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee released a draft bill that would expand Medicare reimbursement for telehealth services.  The members intend to include the telehealth language into a broader package of legislation known as the 21st Century Cures Initiative, which... READ MORE

House Passes Bill Redefining ACA’s Full-Time Work Week On Thursday, January 8, the House passed legislation changing the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA”) definition of a full-time work week from 30 to 40 hours.  The bill was sponsored by Rep. Todd Young (R-IN) and passed 252-172 with 12 Democrats supporting the measure.  The bill now... READ MORE

SGR Repeal, Changes to Medicare Left Out of $1.1 Trillion Spending Deal On December 13, the $1.1 trillion spending bill passed the Senate and will fund the government through September 2015.  Twenty-one Senate Democrats voted against it, but the deal passed by a 56-40 margin.  The bill does not include any major changes to... READ MORE

Congress Passes FY 2015 Omnibus Bill On December 11, the House passed the continuing resolution/omnibus spending bill that will fund the federal government through September 30, 2015. The House also passed a two-day continuing resolution that provides the Senate time to debate the House-passed legislation and avoid a government shutdown that would have occurred at midnight Thursday. The... READ MORE

Hope for Permanent SGR Reform in 2014 Ends On Thursday, December 4, lawmakers who back legislation that would permanently repeal and replace the Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”) announced that efforts to pass the measure this year have ended. According to Politico, the co-chairman of the House Republican Doctors Caucus, Rep. Phil Roe (R-TN), said... READ MORE

Ways and Means Releases Draft Hospital Legislation On Wednesday, November 19, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health released draft legislation intended to improve hospital issues in the Medicare system.  The legislation addresses Medicare’s controversial “two-midnight” rule, short inpatient stays, outpatient observation status, the RAC audit program and the appeals process. While the... READ MORE

Lawmakers Continue Push for SGR Deal in Lame Duck More than 110 members of Congress, including the GOP Doctors Caucus, are urging House leadership to repeal and replace Medicare’s Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”) formula for physician payment before Congress adjourns in December. With House Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) retiring at the... READ MORE

Republican Election Victories Mean Changes for Health Care The results of the November 4 midterm elections have given Republicans on Capitol Hill control of the Senate and their largest majority of the House since 1932.  Senate Republicans gained seven seats and should increase that number once races in Alaska and Louisiana are official. In... READ MORE

CMS Releases Final Home Health Payment Rule On October 30, CMS released the final rule for the home health prospective payment system for CY 2015. The measure reduces home health payments by 0.3% from 2014 payment levels and is generally consistent with the proposed rule that came out in July. Based on that payment rate, the... READ MORE

HHS Announces $840 Million in Quality Improvement Grants On October 23, CMS announced the CMS Innovation Center will grant $840 million to hospitals and doctors to provide improved care while reducing costs. The grants will support 150,000 clinicians over four years with incentives, tools and information as part of the ongoing effort to move away... READ MORE