Federal Health Policy Update for February 22
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 16-22. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. CMS and Medicaid DSH Payments CMS has published a final rule governing how [...]
Providers Faring Well in Surprisingly Busy Dispute Resolution Process
Health care providers are winning more than three-quarters of all payment disputes being brought through an unexpectedly active federal Independent Dispute Resolution process. The process, created under the 2020 No Surprises Act to settle payment disagreements between providers and payers [...]
Proposal Would Establish New “Essential Health System” Designation
The newly proposed “Reinforcing Essential Health Systems for Communities Act” would create a new federal hospital designation that would create a mechanism for directing more federal resources to safety-net hospitals that care for more low-income and uninsured patients. The bipartisan [...]
Hospitals Rally Against Medicare Site-Neutral Payments
A proposal to save Medicare nearly $4 billion over a decade is running into stiff opposition. From hospitals. – and some members of Congress. Medicare has long paid more for outpatient services provided in hospital-based outpatient departments than it has [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for February 15
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 9-15. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Department of Health and Human Services HHS has released a 2023 update of [...]
No Surprises Act Implementation Yields Mixed Results
Is the No Surprises Act working? Is it protecting patients from surprise medical bills? Are providers and insurers happy? The Washington Post reports mixed results. On one hand, millions of people have been protected from surprise medical bills. But on [...]
Looming Medicaid Challenges
State Medicaid programs are facing significant financial challenges in the coming years. Among them: less federal Medicaid matching money, a continued call by providers for increased payments, and a growing demand to use Medicaid to help address behavioral health challenges. [...]
Millions Dropped From Medicaid Rolls
With the two-year “Medicaid unwinding” process nearly half complete, 9.5 million Americans have lost their Medicaid coverage – among them more than 3.7 million children. To date, 48 million of the 71 million people enrolled in Medicaid at pandemic’s end [...]
Federal Health Policy Update for February 8
The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government for February 2 - 8. Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents. Congress Members of the Senate’s 340B bipartisan working group have released [...]
States Using Medicaid Money to Address Homelessness
Trusting in the adage that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” more and more states are using Medicaid funds to address homelessness. The theory, not fully tested, is that providing housing to the homeless, along with [...]
