Medicaid

Subscribe to Medicaid

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.…

Continue Reading CMS Issues Proposed Rule Requiring Nursing Homes to Disclose Additional Ownership Information, Including Ties to Private Equity and REITS

On January 31, 2023, the New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General (OMIG) released three guidance documents to assist Medicaid providers in meeting the requirements of recently adopted regulations governing (i) the implementation and maintenance of an effective compliance program for certain providers; (ii) Medicaid managed care fraud, waste and abuse prevention programs; and (iii) OMIG’s Self-Disclosure Program for overpayments.…

Continue Reading Attention New York Medicaid Providers: It’s Time to Upgrade Your Compliance Program

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.…

Continue Reading CMS Augments “In Lieu Of Services” Medicaid Guidance to Support State Medicaid Managed Care Efforts to Address Social Determinants of Health

On January 5, 2022, we discussed the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2023 proposed rule released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). On April 28, 2022, CMS issued the NBPP 2023 Final Rule. CMS published a Fact Sheet and other resources on April 28, 2022. The rule will take effect on January 1, 2023, but the optional early bird application deadline is May 18, 2022 and the final deadline for issuers to submit changes to their QHP Application is August 17, 2022.
Continue Reading 2023 Payment Rule’s Nondiscrimination Provisions and Anticipation of New Section 1557 Rules

More than 13 million people were enrolled in Medi-Cal in California in September 2021, making it the largest Medicaid program in the nation. In December 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the California Department of Health Care Services’ (DHCS’) request for a five-year extension of its Medicaid section 1115 demonstration and a five-year extension of its Medicaid managed care section 1915(b) waiver. These Medicaid waivers are part of the “California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal” (CalAIM) initiative which was launched in January 2022 to provide aid to California’s most vulnerable residents and to provide more equitable programs and access statewide.
Continue Reading Medicaid and Health Equity: CalAIM’s Bold Experiment

On April 1, 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced states may seek to extend Medicaid postpartum coverage from 60 days to one year through a new state plan option offered by the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”). The new state plan option allows state Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”) agencies to provide 12 months of continuous postpartum coverage, regardless of any changes in circumstances, through a state plan amendment (“SPA”). This option is available for five years and ends on March 31, 2027.
Continue Reading CMS Begins Option to Extend Medicaid Postpartum Coverage

The United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently issued a report concerning the use of telehealth to render behavioral health services to Medicaid enrollees, calling for greater evaluation and oversight in the hopes of encouraging states to implement changes to improve how their Medicaid programs use telehealth for behavioral health services, including mental health assessments, individual therapy, and medication management.
…
Continue Reading HHS OIG Studies State Medicaid Programs’ Use of Telehealth

On April 1, 2021, the California Department of Health Care Services (“DHCS”) will be transitioning all Medi-Cal pharmacy benefits from managed care to fee-for-service (“FFS”).  This…
Continue Reading Medi-Cal Rx: California to Transition Medi-Cal Pharmacy Benefits to Fee-For-Service

As mentioned in our November 25, 2000 Healthcare Law Blog article, “Big Changes for Health Care Fraud and Abuse: HHS Gifts Providers Updates to the Stark Law and the AKS, Just in Time for the Holidays,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule (“Final Rule”) on December 2, 2020 making significant changes to the regulatory framework implementing the federal physician self-referral prohibition (the “Stark Law”), 42 C.F.R. 411.351 et seq.
Continue Reading Critical Analysis and Practical Implications of CMS’ Changes to the Stark Law’s Implementing Regulations

On November 20, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) promulgated much-anticipated and significant final rules intended to “modernize” and “clarify” regulations regarding the Physician Self-Referral Law (“Stark Law Final Rule”) and the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS Final Rule”).  In the immediate future, Sheppard Mullin will post on this Healthcare Law Blog a comprehensive critical analysis of both the Stark Law Final Rule and the AKS Final Rule and their practical impacts.
Continue Reading Big Changes for Health Care Fraud and Abuse: HHS Gifts Providers Updates to the Stark Law and the AKS, Just in Time for the Holidays