Articles and Blogs

Doc Fix Legislation Advances out of Subcommittee On July 23, the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee passed bipartisan legislation (H.R. 2810) calling for a new system for Medicare physician payments.  The measure was approved without any significant changes made to the policies set forth in the original framework issued last week.  It now heads for... 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

CMS Releases Hospital Outpatient Rule On July 8, CMS published a proposed rule for the hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical center payment systems and the electronic health records incentive program.  Under the proposed rule, total hospital outpatient payments under Medicare are projected to increase next year by nearly $4.4 billion, or 9.5% over 2013.  READ MORE

Providers Discuss RAC Program with Senate Finance Committee On Tuesday, June 25, the Senate Finance Committee held an oversight hearing on the Recovery Audit Contractors (“RAC”) program.  With two of the three witnesses representing provider groups, the bulk of the hearing focused on the compliance burdens accompanying RAC document requests and reviews. READ MORE

MedPAC Submits June Report to Congress On June 14, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC”) submitted its annual June report to Congress on Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System.  The Commission estimated that Medicare payments to doctors will be cut by 24.4% on January 1, 2014 if Congress does not pass legislation to correct... READ MORE

Delayed Debt Ceiling Could Affect Provider Payment Bill The Congressional Budget Office (“CBO”) released their June report showing the government should be able to stay under the debt ceiling until October or November of this year. Many inside health circles believe that Congress will feel less pressure to fix the Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”)... READ MORE

Paul Ryan Tells Hall Render Congress “Ready” to Reform SGR, but Questions Remain On Monday, House Budget Committee Chairman and Ways and Means Committee member Paul Ryan (R-WI) told John Williams, the head of Hall Render’s federal advocacy practice area, that Congress is “ready” to permanently reform the Sustainable Growth Rate (“SGR”) formula.  “We’re ready... READ MORE

Hall Render Launches Stark Law Correction Initiative On May 30, Hall Render announced the formation of a coalition of health systems to pursue changes to the Stark Law.  The coalition, known as the Stark Law Correction Initiative (“SLCI”), will lobby Congress to adopt a “technical noncompliance” amendment that will fix the monetary penalty a... READ MORE

HHS Issues Rule on DSH Payments On May 13, CMS released a proposed rule on the health reform law’s reductions to Disproportionate Share Hospital (“DSH”) payments. The rule would temporarily shield states that have decided to expand Medicaid from deeper DSH cuts in fiscal years 2014 and 2015. The rule comes a month after the White... READ MORE

HHS Releases Hospital Price Information for Common Procedures On May 8, HHS released publicly available information about hospital charges. The data set includes information on the 100 most common inpatient procedures. The data shows that hospital fees vary widely – sometimes 10 to 20 times what Medicare normally reimburses, for the same procedure.  The release... READ MORE