On Monday, August 8th, the Deputy Director of Legislative Affairs of the Department of Managed Health Care (the “Department”) released a letter of opposition (the “Letter”) to Assembly Bill 1249 (“AB 1249”). The Letter was addressed to Brian Maienschein of the California State Assembly, who is the lead author of AB 1249.
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Overview of Proposed Rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Regarding Interoperability and Patient Access to Data
On March 4, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a wide-ranging proposed rule (“Proposed Rule”)[1] with the intent to “move the health care ecosystem in the direction of interoperability” in alignment with the objectives set out in the 21st Century Cures Act (“Cures Act”)[2] and Executive Order 13813.[3] According to CMS, this Proposed Rule is a key step in putting patients at the center of their health care and ensuring that they have access to their health information – attempting to solve the problem of accessing complete health information from different providers and payors. CMS believes patients should have the “ability to move from health plan to health plan, provider to provider, and have both their clinical and administrative information travel with them throughout their journey.”[4] A twin goal is that health IT should not “detract from the clinician-patient relationship… or from the quality of work life for physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals.”[5]
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New Regulation Clarifies DMHC’s Position Regarding Knox-Keene Licensing
After a protracted comment period, the California Department of Managed Health Care (the “Department”) formally adopted its much anticipated “global risk” regulation (the “Regulation”), which will go into effect on July 1, 2019. As more specifically set forth in Section 1300.49 of the California Code of Regulations (“CCR”) and as described below, the Department has formalized its long-standing policy that any person that assumes “global risk” must obtain a license to operate a health care service plan and has added a process whereby such a person can seek an exemption from such licensure. As a result of new definitions for the terms “global risk” and “prepaid or periodic charge,” the Regulation marks a significant expansion of the Department’s oversight activity, and is likely to have a substantial impact on a variety of entities and arrangements in the State.
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Balanced Billing in California: Update Regarding 2016’s A.B. 72 and an Overview of Newly Introduced Bill A.B. 1611
Balanced billing or “surprise billing” has been getting increased attention at both the federal and state level. Balance bills arise when a payor covers out-of-network care, but the provider bills the patient for amounts beyond what the payor covers and beyond cost-sharing amounts. California has been tackling this issue for over a decade. This article provides an update regarding two pieces of California legislation – A.B. 72, effective in 2017 and A.B. 1611, newly proposed – which concern balance billing.
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Blog Series Part 6: CMS Proposed Rule on Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, Medicaid Fee-For-Service and Medicaid Managed Care Programs for Years 2020 and 2021
Dual Special Needs Plans
This part 6 of our 7 part series focuses on the provisions regarding dual special needs plans (“D-SNPs”) released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) in the proposed rule issued on November 1, 2018 (the “Proposed Rule”). D-SNPs enroll individuals who are entitled to both Medicare and medical assistance from a state under Medicaid. States cover some Medicare costs, depending on the particular state and the member’s eligibility. As reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation in “Medicare Advantage 2017 Spotlight: Enrollment Market Update,” Gretchen Jacobson, Anthony Damico, Tricia Neuman, and Marsha Gold ( June 6, 2017), enrollment in special needs plans increased from 2.1 million in 2016 to 2.3 million in 2017 – and 81% of members of these plans are enrolled in D-SNPs.
Continue Reading Blog Series Part 6: CMS Proposed Rule on Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit, Medicaid Fee-For-Service and Medicaid Managed Care Programs for Years 2020 and 2021
The New California Regulatory Scheme for Pharmacy Benefit Managers
California recently passed Assembly Bill 315 to create greater regulatory oversight of pharmacy benefit managers (“PBMs”). [1] The bill requires PBMs to provide more transparency regarding their operations. PBMs will have to register with the California Department of Managed Health Care (“DMHC”) and provide new disclosures to the purchasers of their services. The bill will also establish a new pilot project and task force run by the DMHC to analyze how PBMs are affecting the pharmaceutical market.
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New California Law re HMO M&A
On September 7, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law Assembly Bill No. 595, A.B. 595, which amends the California Health and Safety Code to increase oversight by the California Department of Managed Health Care (“DMHC”) of health care service plan mergers and acquisitions (M&A). (See, Cal. Health & Safety Code §§1399.65 and 1399.66). The law allows DMHC to reject M&A transactions that DMHC determines will have an adverse impact on, among other things, competition, subscribers and enrollees, and the stability of the health care delivery system. In addition, DMHC will be empowered to impose conditions that it believes will protect subscribers and enrollees and the public interest as a condition of approval of the transaction (as further described below).
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Star Ratings and Future Measurement Concepts in the CY 2019 Final Call Letter
Medicare Part C and Part D Star Ratings are used by CMS to measure the quality of and reflect the experiences of beneficiaries in Medicare Advantage (“MA”) and Prescription Drug Plans (“PDPs”). Below is a summary of CMS’ proposed enhancements to the 2019 Star Ratings set forth in the 2019 Final Call Letter (issued by CMS on April 2, 2018) , as well as possible enhancements to the 2020 Star Ratings.
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Take-Aways from CMS’ Recent Listening Session Regarding E/M Services: Documentation Guidelines and Burden Reduction
On March 21, 2018, a representative from the Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group at the CMS, held a listening session regarding proposed updates to documentation guidelines for Evaluation and Management (“E/M”) Services. The purpose of this listening session was for the agency to obtain stakeholder feedback in order to develop policy proposals for upcoming notice and comment rulemaking, which, according to the CMS, will require a multi-year, collaborative effort among the agency and providers. Despite the warning of a Sisyphean task ahead, the CMS seems focused on reducing the burdens associated with the documentation requirements, which date back to 1995. Perhaps the effort will be moot as documentation as the driver of reimbursement will be replaced with clinical and quality outcomes. While the industry is certainly on this path – moving from “if it is not documented, it has not been done” to “if there is no value, it has not been done,” coding remains key and the 20 year old guidelines must be re-visited in light of the current state of the practice of medicine, especially the wide-spread use of electronic health records (“EHRs”).
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CY 2018 Medicare Advantage Final Call Letter
Sheppard Mullin continues to see a lot of interest in the Medicare Advantage (MA) marketplace from our managed care payor clients, as well as our health system clients, many of whom are well-positioned to enter this space as provider sponsored health plans.
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