Medicare

House Ways & Means Chair Richard Neal (D-MA) wrote to CMS Administrator Seema Verma on Wednesday (Aug. 5) that his committee has found large gaps in the COVID-19 data nursing homes are reporting to the government, making it difficult to accurately assess death rates, staffing needs and allocate provider relief funds. Neal wants to know by Aug. 21 how CMS will fix the data collection problems.

CMS on Tuesday (Aug. 4) finalized its fiscal 2021 inpatient rehabilitation facility prospective pay rule that will lift requirements on post-admission evaluations and expand the services non-physician practitioners can provide.

CMS on Tuesday (Aug. 4) announced plans to deepen cuts to Part B pay for 340B drugs by an additional 6%, shortly after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit backed the agency’s pay cuts for 2018 and 2019.

President Donald Trump on Monday (Aug. 3) signed an executive order calling on CMS to make permanent some telehealth provisions allowed during the COVID-19 pandemic as well as authorize the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation to create a rural health payment model.

Hospitals and other providers that took out Medicare loans earlier this year are beginning to see their pay withheld as those loans come due, and while the Federation of American Hospitals is blaming Congress for not acting quickly to avert the situation, the Medical Group Management Association says CMS should delay and change providers’ repayment obligations during the pandemic.

CMS on Friday (July 31) finalized fiscal 2021 pay policies for nursing homes, hospices and inpatient psychiatric facilities, all of which can expect to see pay bumps come Oct. 1 albeit slightly less than previously proposed.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit sided with CMS on Friday (July 31) as two judges said the agency has authority to cut 340B hospitals’ Part B drug reimbursement rates by almost 30%, reversing a federal district court decision that struck the cuts.

CMS plans to put in place new hospital procedure codes starting Aug. 1 that will allow the agency and other insurers to track the use and effectiveness of COVID-19 treatments in real-time.

Despite Senate Republicans including Medicare Accelerated loan repayment reform in their COVID-19 relief package released Monday (July 27), hospitals are worried lawmakers won’t reform the program by the recoupment deadline and want CMS to delay that timeline until Congress makes changes.