On Thursday, September 6 and Friday, September 7, 2018, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) met for its first public meeting of the 2018-2019 cycle. The meeting began with a presentation on the “Context for Medicare payment policy,” intended to orient Commissioners and set the scene for upcoming chapters. The presentation outlined existing and projected [...] Read More
On January 11-12, 2018, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) held the next meeting of their current term and their first meeting of the new year. At the meeting, commissioners spent a significant portion of the meeting discussing Medicare Part D, Medicare Advantage, and the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Additionally, the commission conducted its […]
Read MoreOn December 7-8, 2017, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) held a public meeting that focused on payment adequacy in multiple health care. MedPAC annually looks at these payment adequacy issues and presents recommendations for each care setting. In addition, the meeting continued a prior discussion about developing an alternative to the Merit-based Incentive Payment […]
Read MoreIn what is likely the first major Medicare policy change of the Trump Administration, Medicare payment for 340B drugs administered in the hospital outpatient department will be cut from 106% of average sales price (ASP, or ASP+6%) to average sales price less 22% (ASP-22%). Those who have been following President Trump’s statements on health care […]
Read MoreToday, President Donald Trump, citing inaction from Congress, has signed an executive order related to health care. While the action comes before open-enrollment for the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces begins on November 1, it is unclear how much of an impact this order could have since federal agencies will likely need to follow rulemaking […]
Read MoreLate Friday evening, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released their long-awaited preliminary private rate-based clinical laboratory fee schedule rates. These rates begin to implement section 216(a) of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014 (PAMA) by establishing new clinical laboratory fee schedule (CLFS) payment rates for diagnostic tests paid by Medicare […]
Read MoreOn September 7-8, 2017, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) had the first meeting of their new term. The meeting contained sessions that mostly focused on providing Commissioners with information about various Medicare-related topics that could be areas for further exploration. No policy recommendations were discussed or voted on. In addition, the meeting introduced the Commission’s […]
Read MoreThis year’s HCPCS Public Meeting is providing a master class in some of the common challenges inherent in billing and coding, and how those challenges impact payment policy and, ultimately, utilization of products. Day 2 featured lessons in separate payment for products used in conjunction with services, and appropriate payment when multiple products share the […]
Read MoreOn Thursday, April 13, 2017, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a final rule aimed at shoring up the Marketplaces created under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). HHS released a proposed rule in February 2017 that included several provisions generally supported by health insurers that participated in the Marketplaces. One open question […]
Read MoreOn April 6-7, 2017, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) held their final public meeting of this term. The Commissioners finished out this term by voting on draft recommendations presented at previous meetings and discussing a wide range of topics, including Medicare Part B drug payment, a unified payment system for post-acute care, and payment […]
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