The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has unveiled its Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 IPPS Proposed Rule, which outlines significant updates to three key Medicare hospital quality initiatives: the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program, the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), and the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program. These proposed changes, outlined in the IPPS […]
As a result of the most recent provider lawsuit, IDR processing fees have been reworked. Since its inception on Jan. 1, 2022, the No Surprises Act (NSA) has had its growing pains, including four lawsuits challenging the process of Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR). Out-of-network services are paid for with this process when health plans, healthcare […]
While not every policy alteration by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) grabs headlines, it’s often these less-publicized changes that lead to the most billing complications. Here are a couple of recent adjustments made by CMS that you might have overlooked. New Place of Service Code CMS introduced a new Place of Service […]
Appeal rights appear much narrower than many expected. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court issued an opinion on Barrows v. Becerra, a long-running class action lawsuit. Filed by a group of Medicare beneficiaries, the suit alleged they had to pay out of pocket for skilled nursing care—despite being hospitalized for over three days—because their […]
The final rules for fiscal year 2023 include a 3.8 percent payment increase for hospice providers, 2.5 percent increase for inpatient psychiatric facilities, and 3.2 percent boost for inpatient rehabilitation facilities. CMS has released final rules solidifying Medicare reimbursement rates for hospice providers, inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs), and inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) for fiscal year […]
The home- and community-based services quality measure set also aims to advance health equity and reduce health disparities for older adults and people with disabilities. CMS has released a quality measure set for home- and community-based services (HCBS), aiming to promote consistent quality measurement and data collection in the Medicaid HCBS program and improve health […]
More than 200,000 residents could be at risk of displacement if federal leaders establish minimum staffing requirements for nursing homes. Nursing homes would have to spend up to $10 billion per year and hire almost 188,000 nurses to comply with increased minimum staffing requirements, according to a report from the American Health Care Association (AHCA) […]
In addition to physician reimbursement cuts, CMS included changes to the Quality Payment Program in the CY 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule. In its recently released calendar year (CY) 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) proposed rule, CMS proposed Quality Payment Program (QPP) changes to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced […]
CMS says it the goal is to support health equity while focusing on high-quality person-centered care. Increased leverage of telehealth for behavioral care, diabetes prevention and mitigation, and enhanced payment for vaccine administration were three out of many priorities cited by federal officials who announced the release of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid […]
Retroactive code pricing updates may require claims lookback. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted a retroactive update to the April Average Sales Price (ASP) pricing file for three Medicare Part B drugs. Also now available are the July ASP and Not Otherwise Classified (NOC) pricing files and the ASP NDC HCPCS […]










