Over the last year, we have seen volatility in the healthcare industry overall, and Medicare Advantage (“MA”) and Medicare Part D plans (together, “Plans”) have not been immune. Particularly because of their risk adjustment payment models, and metrics by which they are measured, it was unclear how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) would respond.
Continue Reading CMS to the Rescue for MA and Part D Plans – Rate Announcement Includes Significant Increase in Plan Payments for 2022

On September 13, 2020, President Trump issued an Executive Order (the “Executive Order”) directing the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to issue regulations instituting two most-favored-nations (“MFN”) payment
Continue Reading Medicare Part B Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing Model: New Rules, New Lawsuits, New Tweets

On December 2, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) finalized policies that “aim to increase choice, lower patients’ out-of-pocket costs, empower patients, and protect taxpayer dollars” with changes to the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) and the Ambulatory Surgical Center (“ASC”) Payment System in the Medicare OPPS and ASC Final Rule (“Final Rule”). These changes include: elimination of the “Inpatient Only List” and additions and revisions to the “ASC Covered Procedures List” – two key areas of “site neutrality”. Site neutrality is a move to diminish or eliminate the reimbursement differences between different sites of service.
Continue Reading Forthcoming Medicare Rule Furthers Push for Site Neutrality

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

As part of the “CY 2021 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Final Rule” (the “Final Rule”) published on December 2, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) finalized policies designed to overhaul the methodology used to calculate the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating effective 2021.
Continue Reading New Criteria Established for the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating

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

The Physician Payment Sunshine Act (the “Sunshine Act”) – a federal law first adopted as Section 6002 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (“PPACA”) – requires the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) to collect and display information reported by applicable manufacturers and group purchasing organizations about the payments and other transfers of value these organizations have made to physicians and teaching hospitals. Currently, CMS fulfills its Sunshine Act obligations to collect and report data to the public through the “Open Payments” program.
Continue Reading On Your Mark, Get Set, Go: Life Science Companies Face A Challenging Year For Compliance With New Open Payment Program Data Collection And Reporting Requirements

As highlighted in a May 2020 Milbank Memorial Fund white paper titled, “How Payment Reform Could Enable Primary Care to Respond to COVID-19,” the COVID-19 public health emergency has driven transformation in the provision of primary care services across the country.  Whether it’s the use of telehealth technology to facilitate “virtual visits” or the development of new treatment protocols to identify and treat patients who need behavioral health support to manage the emotional challenges endemic to the public health emergency, changes in primary care delivery have drawn increased attention to the need for concomitant changes in the way primary care is financed.
Continue Reading Primary Care First: CMS’s New Value-Based Approach to Primary Care

On October 6, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) released guidance regarding the requirements and enforcement process for hospital reporting of COVID-19 data elements (the “Guidance”). The Guidance follows the September 2, 2020 Interim Final Rule, which included new requirements for Medicare and Medicaid participating hospitals and critical access hospitals (“CAHs”) to report data that allows CMS “to monitor whether individual hospitals and CAHs are appropriately tracking, responding to, and mitigating the spread and impact of COVID-19 on patients, the staff who care for them, and the general public.”
Continue Reading Clarity on Reporting and Enforcement: CMS Issues Guidance Regarding Hospital COVID-19 Reporting Requirements