CMS: Medicare Program; FY 2025 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update, Hospice Conditions of Participation Updates, and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements
Notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services (CMS) updating the hospice wage index, payment rates, and aggregate cap amount for fiscal year 2025. Includes proposals regarding changes to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program; the adoption of the most recent Office of Management and Budget statistical area delineations, which would change the hospice wage index; clarifications to current policy related to the "election statement" and the
"notice of election;" and clarifying language regarding hospice certification. Among other things, this rule seeks comments regarding the potential implementat...
Source: Federal Register updates via the Rural Assistance Center - April 4, 2024 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news
How California Uses Medicaid to Rip You Off
(Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - April 4, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
SNMMI to tackle Capitol Hill
The Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) will host its annual Hill Day on 5 in Washington, DC, with 65 members, patients, and industry colleagues set to lobby on key issues in the field.
On the agenda are discussions concerning the Nuclear Medicine Clarification Act of 2023 (H.R. 6815), which was introduced in the House on January 5. The legislation would direct the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to revise its regulations on event reporting “to protect patients from unintended exposure to radiation during nuclear medicine procedures,” the SNMMI said in a recent announcement.
“The SNMMI i...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - April 3, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: AuntMinnie.com staff writers Tags: Industry News Nuclear Medicine Source Type: news
For Red State Holdouts Like Kansas, Is Expanding Medicaid Within Reach?
As Southern states reconsider Medicaid expansion, Gov. Laura Kelly of Kansas is pushing her own plan meant to appeal to conservatives. So far, success has been elusive. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - April 3, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Noah Weiland Tags: Medicaid Kansas Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) Kelly, Laura (1950- ) Health Insurance and Managed Care State Legislatures Law and Legislation United States Politics and Government Poverty Source Type: news
HPI study shows radiologists at MIPS disadvantage
Impeded by a smaller number of radiology-applicable quality measures, in 2021 radiologists in radiology-only practices scored significantly lower on relevant Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) gauges compared with other specialties.In contrast, those in multispecialty practices scored higher in the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) MIPS, although they rarely reported radiology-relevant MIPS quality measures, instead tracking those relevant to other specialties, according to a research letter from the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute (HPI) published April 3 in the American J...
Source: AuntMinnie.com Headlines - April 3, 2024 Category: Radiology Authors: Kate Madden Yee Tags: Practice Management Source Type: news
CMS: Medicare Program; FY 2025 Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System-Rate Update
Notice of proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services (CMS) updating the FY 2025 prospective payment rates, outlier threshold, and wage index for Medicare inpatient hospital services provided by inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF), including psychiatric hospitals and excluded psychiatric units of an acute care hospital or Critical Access Hospital. Includes proposed revisions to the patient-level adjustment factors, the Emergency Department adjustment, and the payment amount for electroconvulsive therapy; and seeks to adopt a new quality measure and modify reporting requirements under the IPF Quality R...
Source: Federal Register updates via the Rural Assistance Center - April 3, 2024 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news
CMS: Medicare Program; Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities; Updates to the Quality Reporting Program and Value-Based Purchasing Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2025
Notice of a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services (CMS) that would update the skilled nursing facility (SNF) prospective payment system (PPS) payment rates for fiscal year 2025. Includes proposals to rebase and revise the SNF market basket to reflect a 2022 base year; update the wage index used under the SNF PPS to reflect data collected during the most recent decennial census; technical revisions to the code mappings used to classify patients under the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) to improve payment and coding accuracy; and update the requirements for the SNF Quality Reporting Program and t...
Source: Federal Register updates via the Rural Assistance Center - April 3, 2024 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news
A million simulations show US debt is on an'unsustainable' path
The United States is almost certainly on an unsustainable path with regard to the astronomic rise in its national debt, according to a million simulations run by Bloomberg. Bloomberg reported Tuesday that it conducted a million simulations on the U.S. debt outlook and found 88% of them show…#socialsecurity #medicare #medicaid #treasurydepartment #trump #republicans #original (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - April 3, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Trump Built His Brand Bashing Obamacare. Now It ’s More Popular Than He Is.
This article is part of The D.C. Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox.
A decade and a half ago, the Affordable Care Act set the stage for Donald Trump’s White House victory. The conservative backlash to Democrats’ massive and agenda-setting health care proposal was so strong that it gave rise to a newly empowered far-right faction in Congress, inspired a whole generation of angry political neophytes, and almost made Barack Obama a one-term President. Now, a solid 14 years later, those same rabble rousers seem to have convinced Trump, who spent year...
Source: TIME: Health - April 2, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Philip Elliott Tags: Uncategorized Donald Trump Source Type: news
CMS: Medicaid Program; Streamlining the Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program, and Basic Health Program Application, Eligibility Determination, Enrollment, and Renewal Processes
Notice of final rule from the Centers for Medicare& Medicaid Services (CMS) making changes to simplify the eligibility and enrollment processes in Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Basic Health Program. This rule aligns enrollment and renewal requirements for most individuals in Medicaid; creates timeliness requirements for redeterminations of eligibility; makes transitions between programs easier; eliminates access barriers for children enrolled in CHIP by prohibiting premium lock-out periods, benefit limitations, and waiting periods; and modernizes recordkeeping requirements to ensure prop...
Source: Federal Register updates via the Rural Assistance Center - April 2, 2024 Category: Rural Health Source Type: news
UnitedHealth, Health Insurers Tumble On Medicare Advantage Rates
tumbled late Monday while other health insurers such as CVS Health (CVS) and Cigna (CI) ended mixed after the Biden Administration announced that final Medicare Advantage rates in 2025 won't change from initial plans in January. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced late Monday…#humana #hum #cvshealth #cvs #cigna #medicareadvantage #centersformedicare #medicaidservices #cms #unitedhealth (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - April 1, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Senior Housing Sees a Slight Rebound, But Major Concerns Linger
Three years and one pandemic later, senior housing is showing signs of life. Demand among baby boomers is inching back toward pre-pandemic levels, The Wall Street Journal reported. How that demand will be met, however, is unclear thanks to a combination of staffing shortages and controversy…#stayinghome #wsj #medicaid #medicare #southeast #brookdale #northeast #dyingbroke #concernslinger #dailyupside (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - April 1, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Finalizes Payment Updates for 2025 Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D Programs
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the Calendar Year (CY) 2025 Rate Announcement for the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug (Part D) Programs that updates payment policies for these programs and ensures payment accuracy. The Rate…#cms #calendaryear #medicareadvantage #medicare #hhs #xavierbecerra #chiquitabrookslasure #rateannouncement #phd (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - April 1, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Idaho Bans Medicaid For Transgender Procedures
Authored by Naveen Athrappully via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours), Idaho Governor Brad Little signed a bill Wednesday that prevents individuals enrolled in the state Medicaid program from being covered for transgender-related treatments. Idaho Gov.…#idaho #naveenathrappully #epochtimes #bradlittle #medicaid #jimwatsonafp #medicare #bentoews #idahocapitalsun #melissawintrow (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - April 1, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Hospitals must now obtain written consent for certain medical exams, new federal guidance says
Hospitals must obtain written informed consent from patients before subjecting them to pelvic exams and exams of other sensitive areas — especially if an exam will be done while the patient is unconscious, the federal government said Monday. New guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and…#medicare #medicaid #officeofcivilrights #melaniefontesrainer #anesthesia #hhs #xavierbecerra #scottberkowitz #alexandrafountaine #ohiouniversity (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - April 1, 2024 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
