Articles and Blogs

On March 5, 2019, the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality/Survey & Certification Group released a memorandum titled “April 2019 Improvements to Nursing Home Compare and the Five-Star Rating System” (“Memorandum”). In the Memorandum, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced the end of the freeze on health inspection star ratings and added quality measure…Read More

Congress Tackles Health-Related Issues in Multiple Hearings This Week Congress looked at many health policy issues in a week jam-packed with hearings. Continuing Congress’s probe into drug pricing, the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee held a hearing on promoting competition to lower Medicare prescription drug costs. While lawmakers questioned whether the drug industry is…Read More

NATIONAL How 6 major health systems and hospitals hope to boost housing Medicare trims payments to 800 hospitals, citing patient safety incidents CHIME to Congress: HIPAA isn’t enough to ensure cybersecurity Breast cancer screening bundled payment model incentivizes cost savings Value-based care shift among highlights of MGMA 19 financial conference Freestanding EDs charge up to…Read More

The controversial Obama-era EEO-1 pay data disclosure requirements that had been indefinitely stayed by the White House Office of Management and Budget (“OMB”) were reinstated earlier this week by a federal district court judge. This unhappy news for employers arrives less than three months before the May 31, 2019 EEO-1 filing deadline. The case was…Read More

On March 5, 2019, the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality/Survey & Certification Group released a memorandum titled “Revisions to Appendix Q, Guidance on Immediate Jeopardy” (“Memorandum”). The Memorandum’s revisions create a “Core Appendix Q” that will be used by surveyors of all provider and supplier types in determining when to cite immediate jeopardy. The…Read More

If the Trump administration moves forward with a plan to revoke work authorization for certain H-4 visa holders, over 100,000 foreign nationals could lose their ability to work in the United States. Overview The H-4 nonimmigrant visa allows spouses and unmarried children (under 21 years of age) of H-1B visa holders to join them in…Read More

Location, location, location – this will be the focus of a Medicare hospital claims processing requirement. Starting in April 2019, CMS will activate billing edits that will Return to Provider (“RTP”) any hospital UB-04 claims that identify a service location that is not an exact match to a Medicare enrolled location identified in Provider Enrollment,…Read More

During a speech on March 4, 2019, Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar announced that the Trump administration plans to overhaul the Medicare payment system for certain dialysis services provided to patients with end-stage renal disease. The overhaul, as envisioned, would incentivize moving the place of treatment from outpatient clinics to home care….Read More

As explained in our previous post, on September 5, 2018, the Michigan Legislature voted to approve the Earned Sick Time Act (“ESTA”), a citizen petition-initiated measure that was due to go into effect in March of 2019. However, before the ESTA could go into effect, in December of 2018, it was renamed as the Paid…Read More

House Democrats Unveil Single-Payor Legislation House Democrats introduced sweeping “Medicare for All” legislation, providing the most detailed plan to overhaul the current health care system by enrolling all U.S. residents in a single-payor, government-run health plan. It would cover a more expansive set of benefits than the current Medicare program and restructure payment for institutional…Read More