The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, January 13.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

Supreme Court

• The Supreme Court has ruled that the administration’s vaccine mandate for health care workers will remain in effect while the mandate is challenged in the lower courts.  See the court’s ruling here.

White House

• The White House has announced new efforts to protect children from COVID-19 and keep schools open.  The new measures include:
  • Sending more point-of-care and lab-based PCR tests to schools.
  • Deploying federal surge testing units at community testing sites to support free testing access for students, school staff, and families.
  • Connecting schools with COVID-19 testing providers to set up school testing programs.
  • Providing new training, resources, and materials.

Learn more from this White House fact sheet.

• The White House has posted a transcript of the January 12 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team and public officials.  Go here to see the slides presented during the briefing.

Medicare Payment Advisory Commission

MedPAC met today and voted on its recommendations for Medicare payment updates for the next fiscal year.  The recommendations adopted by the MedPAC commissioners are:

• hospital inpatient payments – a 2.5 percent increase
• hospital outpatient payments – a 2.0 percent increase
• long-term-care hospital payments – a market basket increase and a productivity adjustment that together amount to an effective increase of approximately 2.0 percent
• independent rehabilitation facility payments – a 5.0 percent reduction
• skilled nursing facilities – a 5.0 percent reduction
• home health services – a 5.0 percent reduction
• physicians and primary care – an update in line with current law and retention of the 5.0 percent bonus opportunity for participations in alternative payment models
• ambulatory surgery centers – a 2.0 percent increase and requirement that such facilities be required to file cost reports
• hospice – an update in line with statute and to lower the aggregate cap 20 percent

MedPAC’s recommendations are advisory only and, while generally respected, are not binding on the administration and CMS.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

COVID-19

• CMS has updated its toolkit on state actions to mitigate the prevalence of COVID-19 in nursing homes.  Find the updated toolkit here.
• CMS has published a poster describing how to safely conduct visits to nursing homes.

Health Policy Update

• CMS has released a proposed National Coverage Determination (NCD) decision memorandum explaining that it will cover FDA-approved monoclonal antibodies for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease only through coverage with evidence development, which means that FDA-approved drugs in this class would be covered for people with Medicare only if they are enrolled in qualifying clinical trials.  The policy’s most immediate application will be to limit Medicare coverage for the new Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm (aducanumab).  Learn more about this policy in this CMS news release and the decision memorandum.  Interested parties have 30 days to submit written comments and CMS says it will announce its final decision by April 11.
• CMS has posted the latest edition of MLN Connects, its online newsletter with information about Medicare reimbursement issues.  This edition includes articles about new guidance for safe nursing home visitation, vaccine access in long-term-care facilities, a new billing code for administering remdesivir in outpatient settings, the application process for new medical residency slots, and more.  Learn more in the latest edition of MLN Connects.
• CMS’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has posted the final annual reports for phase two of its initiative to reduce avoidable hospitalizations among nursing facility residents.  Go here to learn more about the program and find those annual reports.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• The CDC has updated its information about potential adverse effects from COVID-19 vaccines.
• A new study published by the CDC found that flu vaccines help reduce the severity of flu cases among children and do so even when the strain of flu a child experiences is different from that which is the primary target of the flu vaccine.  Learn more from this CDC news release.

Food and Drug Administration

• The FDA has updated the fact sheet for the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in response to new safety information about the serious risk of a disorder that can cause easy or excessive bruising and bleeding due to very low levels of platelets following administration of the vaccine.  Learn more from the following resources:
  • the FDA announcement
  • the revised fact sheet for providers
  • the revised fact sheet for recipients and caregivers

Stakeholder Events

MedPAC – January 14

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) will hold its next public meeting on January 14.  Go here for a meeting agenda and information about virtual participation.

CMS – January 18

CMS administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and her leadership team will hold a national stakeholder call on Tuesday, January 18 during which they will review their key 2021 accomplishments and share their goals for 2022.  Go here to register to join the call.

MACPAC – January 20-21

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC) will hold its next public meeting on January 20 and 21.  Go here for a meeting agenda and information about registering for the virtual meeting.