CMS Promises Enhanced Use of Medicaid Data to Improve Program Results
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Seema Verma intends to increase federal use of data reported by the states to improve the performance of state Medicaid programs. In an article published on the CMS blog, Verma wrote that Through [...]
Senators Ask CMS to Back Off Medicare Outpatient Proposal
Nearly half of the members of the Senate have written to CMS asking the agency to withdraw its proposal to make more Medicare outpatient payments on a site-neutral basis. In the letter, 48 senators note that in the 2015 Bipartisan [...]
Medicare Site-Neutral Outpatient Payment Proposal Would Have Disproportionate Impact
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ proposal to make more Medicare outpatient payments on a site-neutral basis would significantly cut Medicare’s overall outpatient spending but most of that cut would be borne by just a few hospitals. A report [...]
New Approach to Readmissions Program Takes Effect
Medicare’s hospital readmissions reduction program is moving in a new direction beginning in FY 2019 after Congress directed the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services to compare hospitals’ performance on readmissions to similar hospitals instead of to all hospitals. The [...]
Verma Speaks at Medicaid Managed Care Summit
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Seema Verma recently addressed the Medicaid Managed Care Summit, which was held in Washington, D.C. Ms. Verma’s speech focused on four major areas: Empowering states to function as laboratories for innovation by giving [...]
OIG: Medicare Advantage Plans May be Denying Access to Save Money
The Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is concerned that Medicare Advantage plans may be denying their members access to services to save money and increase profits. According to the OIG, those [...]
New Approach to Readmissions Program to Take Effect October 1
Medicare’s hospital readmissions reduction program will move in a new direction beginning in FY 2019 after Congress directed the Centers of Medicare & Medicaid Services to compare hospitals’ performance on readmissions to similar hospitals instead of to all hospitals. The [...]
States Pursuing Medicaid Reforms
A new Commonwealth Fund report looks at some of the changes states are pursuing in how they deliver and pay for care for their Medicaid recipients. The review groups the reforms into three categories: Managed care reforms – demanding more [...]
NAUH Opposes Proposed Medicare Outpatient Regulation
In a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, NAUH has conveyed its opposition to aspects of CMS’s proposed Medicare outpatient prospective payment system regulation for 2019. Once adopted, this regulation will determine how the federal government pays [...]
CMS Proposes Easing Regulatory Requirements
In a newly proposed rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposes easing the regulatory burden on health care providers. The proposed regulation, which weighs in at 285 pages, covers a broad range of government regulation of health care [...]
