Articles and Blogs

House Passes ACA Fix On Friday, the House passed a bill (H.R. 3350) that would allow health insurers to sell individual health policies in 2014 that were in effect as of January 1, 2013, even if they don’t meet minimum coverage requirements set by the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). Passage of the bill, comes a day... READ MORE

OMB Reviewing Final Rules on Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law Protections for EHR Deals Earlier this week, CMS and HHS sent two final rules to the White House Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) that would extend safe harbor protections for arrangements that provide electronic health record (“EHR”) products to physicians until the end of... READ MORE

Framework for Permanent SGR Replacement Circulated On October 31, the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means committees released the framework of legislation that would permanently repeal and replace the Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”) formula. Given the bipartisan and bicameral nature of the proposal, it is a significant step in reforming the current Medicare... READ MORE

CMS to Delay 2014 Pay Rules On October 23, CMS issued a notice saying four 2014 Medicare payment rules will be delayed.  In a memo to providers, Robert Fritter, director of CMS’s Division of Provider Relations and Outreach, said that CMS intends to issue the final rules on or before November 27, 2013, to be... READ MORE

Congress Reaches Deal to End Shutdown, Raise Debt Limit On October 16, Congress passed and the President signed into law the Continuing Appropriations Resolution of 2014 (H.R. 2775). The deal ends the partial government shutdown by maintaining Fiscal Year 2013 post-sequester discretionary spending levels until January 15, 2014. The bill also renews the federal... READ MORE

Shutdown Could Create Opportunity to Advance Health Care Policy The need for lawmakers to fund the government and raise the debt ceiling could create an opportunity for a number of health policy items to move through Congress. Unfortunately, because many congressional staffers are furloughed and not working on new legislation, the odds of advancing... READ MORE

Committee Releases New Doc Fix Draft On July 18, the House Energy and Commerce Committee released an updated framework to replace Medicare’s physician payment system.  The framework represents the first draft proposal to include Democrats’ names, including the ranking member Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Subcommittee on Health ranking member Frank Pallone (D-NJ).  The Subcommittee... READ MORE

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle Discusses Health Care Reform with Hall Render On Thursday, Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) joined Hall Render Chairman Bill Thompson and McKinsey and Company Director Paul Mango for a wide-ranging panel discussion on the future of health care reform. The three health policy experts covered a... READ MORE

House Votes to Defund ACA The U.S. House voted this morning (230-189) to attach a permanent defunding of the health care law to a continuing resolution (“CR”) spending bill.  The spending bill (H.J. Res. 59) would fund the federal government for a limited time and also block all federal funds for the 2010 Affordable... READ MORE

 House Releases Plan to Extend Federal Funding to December 15 On September 10, the House Appropriations Committee released the text of a stopgap funding bill that would extend this year’s spending level for federal programs through December 15. The extension would give Congress time to work out a larger fiscal package before the end of... READ MORE