CMS has been incrementally expanding coverage for remote patient monitoring since first recognizing the platform in 2019. Through RPM, healthcare providers can use digital health tools and telehealth platforms to improve care management for patients at home, especially those with chronic conditions or who’ve been recently discharged from a hospital. The platform has the […]
The number of improper payments made under Medicare fee-for-service declined by $20.72 billion since 2014, according to new figures from the Biden administration. “The continued reduction in Medicare fee-for-service improper payments represents considerable progress toward the Biden-Harris Administration’s goal of protecting CMS programs’ sustainability for future generations. We intend to build on this success […]
Providers’ experiences with Medicare Advantage plans’ capitated payment models, supplemental benefits, and overall influence gave them recommendations for CMS. There has been a lot of valuable conversation around the benefits that Medicare Advantage health plans can offer to consumers, but now providers have offered their perspectives on this form of health insurance in Better Medicare […]
The conversion factor per relative value unit under the 2022 fee schedule will be reduced to $33.59, down from $34.89 in 2021. KEY TAKEAWAYS CMS says that’s the result of the anticipated sunset of a temporary 3.75% payment increase in 2022, a 0% conversion update, and adjustments mandated by budget neutrality. Physicians blasted the […]
CMS has finalized the calendar year (CY) 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule to promote greater telehealth utilization, boost reimbursement rates for vaccine administration, and improve health equity, among other initiatives, the federal agency said. The final rule will implement “a series of standard technical proposals” as part of CY 2022 rate-setting, CMS said. The conversion […]
The End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Treatment Choices Model is the first to undergo changes to directly address health equity—a new goal for CMS-run alternative payment models. The ESRD Treatment Choices (ETC) Model is a mandatory alternative payment model (APM) that encourages greater utilization of home dialysis and kidney transplants for Medicare beneficiaries with the chronic […]
The Biden administration dropped a final rule Friday that will reward providers that improve rates of home dialysis and kidney transplants among low-income Medicare and dual-eligible beneficiaries. The goal of the changes is to encourage dialysis providers to decrease disparities in home dialysis and transplant rates, part of a larger effort by the Biden administration. […]
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) analyzed performance data from providers who participated in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) between 2017 and 2019 and found that some providers experienced MIPS challenges. Under MIPS, CMS monitors provider performance in four different categories: quality, improvement activities, promoting interoperability, and cost. The providers receive scores in each […]
HHS reduced the Medicare appeals backlog by 79 percent during the third quarter of FY 2021, putting the department ahead of schedule to clear the backlog. As of June 30, 2021, the end of the third quarter of FY 2021, HHS had 86,063 pending appeals remaining at the Office of Medicare Hearing and Appeals […]
Telehealth advocates are submitting recommendations to CMS to improve coverage for remote patient monitoring services in the proposed 2022 Physician Fee Schedule. With remote patient monitoring projects surging in popularity as a result of the pandemic, telehealth advocates are lobbying the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to improve proposed coverage plans in the 2022 […]