Despite some initial difficulty in gaining momentum, the use of value-based payment methodologies will likely increase across all provider niches. This change is partly a function of cost savings driven by margin compression (e.g. inpatient care) as well as by government payment models rewarding quality and efficiency, such as the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization…… Continue reading this entry
California’s Medicaid agency has posted draft language of a new state plan amendment (SPA) that would make major changes to federally qualified health center (FQHC) and Rural Health Clinic (RHC) reimbursement. Public comments may be made on the proposal until 5 PM on March 23, 2018. Following review of public comments, the California Department of…… Continue reading this entry
For over a decade, Medicare has required providers to append special modifiers to their CPT and HCPCS codes when billing for telehealth services. The two primary modifiers for telehealth services were GT (indicating the service was delivered via an interactive audio and video telecommunications system) and GQ (indicating the service was delivered via an asynchronous…… Continue reading this entry
The new year continues to offer big opportunities for telemedicine and digital health companies, and one of the most notable developments is CMS’ decision to reimburse providers for remote patient monitoring (RPM). Effective January 1, 2018, the Medicare program will pay providers for RPM services billed under CPT code 99091. The service is currently defined…… Continue reading this entry
On Friday, December 29, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dealt a blow to hospitals participating in the 340B Drug Pricing Program. By participating in the 340B program, eligible public and not-for-profit hospitals receive significant discounts on the cost of acquiring outpatient prescription drugs. The court ruled in favor of the…… Continue reading this entry
In a striking blow to 340B hospitals, the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final Medicare Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule adopting its earlier proposal to significantly reduce Medicare reimbursement for separately payable outpatient drugs purchased by hospitals under the 340B program. The final rule…… Continue reading this entry
In some states, including the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, “site neutrality” for outpatient hospital reimbursement is factoring into state-specific health reform and cost containment initiatives. This potentially goes well-beyond Medicare’s limitation of reimbursement at new off-campus outpatient hospital departments under Section 603 of the Bi-partisan Budget Act of 2015. Since Massachusetts’ state health reform law was…… Continue reading this entry
The Ninth Circuit held August 7 that the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary erred in approving a Medicaid State Plan Amendment (SPA) that cut reimbursement for outpatient hospital services in California by 10% for eight months in 2008-2009. The Hoag Memorial decision sided with the 57 hospitals that challenged the SPA under the…… Continue reading this entry
Summary of AHA v. Price, 2017 U.S. App. LEXIS 14887 (D.C. Cir. Aug. 11, 2017) On August 11, 2017, the D.C. Circuit reversed the district court and held that the district court abused its discretion by ordering the Secretary of HHS to clear the backlog of administrative appeals of denied Medicare reimbursement claims within…… Continue reading this entry
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed reducing the Medicare payment rate to hospitals for most separately payable drugs purchased under the 340B program from average sales price (ASP) plus six percent to ASP minus 22.5%. This reimbursement cut — almost 30% in the aggregate— would significantly reduce the savings available to…… Continue reading this entry