On Friday, February 9, 2018, President Trump signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the “Budget”), a two-year budget which, in significant part, made substantial revisions to Medicare, including the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. Such revisions include:

i. the addition of non-medical services (e.g., home-delivered meals, transportation to and from a physician’s office, etc.) and telehealth services to the range of MA-covered services that an MA plan (Plan) can offer to its members;

ii. a significant increase in federal funding for services provided by federally qualified health centers (FQHCs);

iii. disbanding the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), a board comprised of presidential appointees whose sole authority and responsibility was to cut Medicare costs and expenses; and

iv. an increase in the discounts that pharmaceutical companies must give seniors enrolled in Medicare Part D drug plans by making the so-called “doughnut hole” disappear in 2019.

The above Medicare-related changes were part of the “Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act of 2017” (the “Act”) – a bipartisan bill that passed the Senate last October and was incorporated into the Budget during the final throes of Budget negotiations.

The following includes a more in-depth discussion of each of the Budget items described above.
Continue Reading The Bipartisan Budget Act Boosts Medicare: Flexibility and Financing for Healthcare Plans and Providers