The Inflation Reduction Act (the “IRA”) requires drug manufacturers to pay rebates to Medicare when the prices of their Part B and Part D prescription drug increase faster than the rate of inflation. We recently discussed the guidance documents issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) detailing the proposed implementation of the Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Programs.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”), on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), recently issued a proposed rule to adopt standards under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) for “health care attachment” transactions (the “Proposed Rule”). The Proposed Rule would implement requirements of HIPAA’s administrative simplification regulations, which are intended to support healthcare claims and prior authorization transactions while also introducing a standard format for electronic signatures to be used in conjunction with health care attachments.
Effective March 1st, certain providers choosing to self-disclose Stark Law violations must use forms updated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”).
Continue Reading CMS Streamlines Stark Law Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (SRDP)
On February 13, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the revised List of Telehealth Services for Calendar Year (CY) 2023 (List). The List includes the services that are payable under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule when furnished via telehealth.
Continue Reading CMS Updates List of Telehealth Services for CY 2023
On February 15, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule that would require nursing homes enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid to disclose new information about their ownership and management structures. If finalized, the rule would require nursing homes to disclose any ties to private equity companies or real estate investment trusts (REITs) (defined below), as well as the names and information of individuals and entities that provide certain administrative, management or consulting services.
On February 9, 2023, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released two highly-anticipated guidance documents (the “Guidance”) detailing the agency’s proposed implementation of the Medicare Part B (“Part B”) and Medicare Part D (“Part D”) Prescription Drug Inflation Rebate Programs (each, a “Rebate Program” and, collectively, the “Rebate Programs”). The Rebate Programs are administered as part of the prescription drug affordability provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act (the “IRA”), which is aimed at “lower[ing] out-of-pocket drug costs for people with Medicare and improv[ing] the sustainability of the Medicare program for current and future generations.”[1] The IRA represents the most sweeping healthcare legislation passed by Congress since the Affordable Care Act.[2] Please refer to our previous blog post on the IRA.
On January 30, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released the long-delayed final rule on risk adjustment data validation (“RADV”) audits of Medicare Advantage (“MA”) organizations (the “Final Rule”). CMS promotes the Final Rule as improving program integrity and payment accuracy as well as transparency and certainty. One thing that is certain, CMS can expect further challenges to its RADV audit methodology.
Continue Reading CMS Issues Long-Awaited Medicare Advantage RADV Final Rule
Introduction: Defining Interprofessional Consultation
In a January 5, 2023, letter to state health officials, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) clarified a Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”) policy on the coverage and payment of interprofessional consultations (the “Guidance”). An interprofessional consultation occurs when the patient’s treating physician requests the opinion and/or advice from a specialist practitioner without the patient making face-to-face contact with the specialist practitioner. The new CMS guidance clarifies that it is permissible for Medicaid and CHIP to provide reimbursement for an interprofessional consultation when the consultation is for the direct benefit of the patient without the patient’s presence.[1]
Continue Reading CMS Issues Interprofessional Consultation Guidance
Social determinants of health (“SDOH”) consider the non-clinical factors that can profoundly impact an individual’s well-being. They are extensive and often overlap, including housing instability, food insecurity, the inability to afford and obtain medications and more. Research has indicated that healthcare systems that connect patients to basic resources have observed improvements in population health metrics, fostered trust with their patient base, and experienced reduced hospitalization costs.
Just in time for the holidays, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued the Contract Year 2024 Proposed Rule for Medicare Advantage organizations (“MAOs”) and Part D sponsors (the “Proposed Rule”). The Proposed Rule includes changes on an array of topics including: Star Ratings, medication therapy management, marketing and communications, health equity, provider directories, coverage criteria, prior authorization, behavioral health services, identification of overpayments, requirements for valid contract applications, and formulary changes.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has issued a proposed rule which would amend the existing regulations for reporting and returning identified overpayments (the “Proposed Rule”). Specifically, with respect to the meaning of “identification” of overpayment, CMS proposes to eliminate the “reasonable diligence” (or traditional negligence) standard and replace it with the False Claims Act’s (“FCA’s”) standard of “knowing” and “knowingly” (i.e., reckless disregard or deliberate ignorance of a potential overpayment).