A former top White House administration health official, Don Berwick, formally announced Monday that he is running for governor of Massachusetts. Berwick is a physician and health policy expert who ran the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for...
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Government
Reminder: Face-to-Face Requirements take Effect July 1st
Beginning July 1st, physicians must document a face-to-face encounter exam with a beneficiary in the six months prior to the written orders of certain items of DME. According to the NHIC Corp., this section will not apply to power mobility devices, as they are covered...
MedPAC thinks Re-Admission Penalties Too Harsh for Hospitals
The financial penalties that Medicare imposes on hospitals with high rates of patient readmissions are too harsh for hospitals serving the poor and should be changed, according to a congressional advisory agency. Since last fall, Medicare has been reducing its...
Medicare Panel Urges Cuts to Hospital Payments for Services Doctors Offer for Less
A federal advisory panel said Friday that Congress should move immediately to cut payments to hospitals for many services that can be provided at much lower cost in doctors’ offices. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission said the current payment disparities had...
H.R. 2375 Calls for Delay and Review of Competitive Bidding
Reps. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., and Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, have introduced a bill to delay the implementation of Round 2 of competitive bidding, according to The VGM Group. H.R. 2375, the “Transparency Accountability in Medicare Bidding Act of 2013,” would delay the...
Home Healthcare Thanks Congressman Tom Price for Support of Home Health Service Access
The Partnership for Quality Home Healthcare today commended Representative Tom Price (R-GA) and his call for targeted Medicare reforms that achieve savings by putting an end to the occurrence of waste, fraud and abuse in the Medicare program. In a letter sent to his...
OIG: CMS Should Establish Transfer Payment Policy for Eary Discharges to Hospice Care
The OIG recently issued a report, found at www.kslaw.com, concerning the potential financial impact to Medicare Part A if CMS established a hospital transfer payment policy for early discharges to hospice care. The OIG explained that it undertook this review because...
CMS Touts Dwindling Number of DME Companies
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has removed 14,663 healthcare providers and suppliers from the Medicare program in the last two years, the agency announced Thursday. The figure more than doubles the number of removals from the prior two-year period. The...
RACs push back against audit improvement bills
An advocacy group for independent Medicare auditors has sharply criticized two bills that would put new controls on Recovery Audit Contractors. The Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2013 was introduced in the House of Representatives in March. A Senate version of the...
GAO Makes MedPAC Appointments
Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of one new member and the reappointment of five existing members to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC)....
Pennsylvania Awards $8.9M Contract for Development of Health Exchange Connection
A Michigan health IT company has secured a five year, $8.9 million contract with Pennsylvania’s eHealth Partnership Authority. Its mission? Connect the state’s 11 regional and statewide health information exchanges and four health information service providers so they...
Senate Takes up Bill to Improve Medicare Audits and Address RAC Concerns
A new Senate bill addresses provider concerns over the Medicare audit process, including the role of Recovery Audit Contractors. The House is also considering a version of the “Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2013,” which lawmakers originally introduced in October...