Articles and Blogs

CMS Releases Home Health Proposed Rule On July 1, CMS issued a proposed rule that would trim Medicare payments to home health agencies by 0.3% in 2015.  The cut reflects the second of four years of “rebasing” home health payments as required by the ACA. The CMS proposal also changes the rules regarding face-to-face encounters... READ MORE

Comprehensive Post-Acute Care Reform Bill Introduced On June 26, leaders of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees introduced comprehensive post-acute care legislation.  A summary of the legislation can be found here. According to a joint committee release, the legislation (H.R. 4994, S. 2553) would require data standardization to allow Medicare to compare... READ MORE

Hall Render Coalition Weighs in on Expansion of Telemedicine and Telehealth Technology On June 16, a coalition, created by Hall Render, of hospitals and health systems sent a letter to the House Energy and Commerce Committee in response to a request for public comment on what Congress can do to expand the use of... READ MORE

The Impact of Cantor’s Loss on Health Legislation On Tuesday, June 10, shockwaves rippled through Washington as House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) was defeated in a Congressional primary.  The result led to the announcement of his immediate resignation as the House Majority Leader effective July 31.  Tuesday’s stunning results could impact the direction... READ MORE

HHS Releases New Hospital Charge Data On June 2, CMS announced its first annual update to the Medicare hospital charge data as well as to the other data products and tools intended to increase transparency about Medicare payments.  The information compares the average amount a hospital bills for services that may be provided in... READ MORE

HHS Sued Over Appeals Backlog On May 22, the American Hospital Association sued HHS over a backlog at the third level of the Medicare appeals process.  The suit would compel HHS to meet the deadlines for reviewing an appeal, which at the Administrative Law Judge level is 90 days.  READ MORE

CMS Formalizes Plan to Extend Meaningful Use Deadlines On May 20, CMS and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology formalized its decision to extend Stage 2 of the Electronic Health Records (“EHR”) Incentive Programs for an additional year (through 2016), meaning the earliest hospitals could move to Stage 3 would... READ MORE

Ways and Means Announces Hearing on Hospital Issues On May 13, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health announced it will hold a May 20 hearing on current hospital issues in the Medicare program.  According to the committee press release, the hearing will touch on all current issues relevant to hospitals in the... READ MORE

CMS Proposes Updating Hospice Payment Rates and Rules Changes On May 2, CMS issued a proposed rule that would update Medicare payment rates and the wage index for hospices serving Medicare beneficiaries.  As proposed, hospices would see an estimated 1.3% ($230 million) increase in their payments for FY 2015.  This increase is up from 1.0% in... READ MORE

CMS Issues Proposed IPPS and LTCH Rule On April 30, CMS issued its hospital inpatient prospective payment system (“IPPS”) and long-term care hospital (“LTCH”) proposed rule for fiscal year 2015.  The overall payment update for fiscal year (“FY”) 2015 would be 1.3% for general acute care hospitals and 0.8% for LTCHs.  READ MORE