On July 13, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for calendar year (CY) 2022. In addition to numerous payment updates in the MPFS, such as significant updates to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), new policies may preserve expanded telemedicine services through 2023 and clinicians may incur more difficulty earning bonuses under the Quality Payment Program (QPP) eligibility threshold. CMS also includes in the proposed rule a request for information to address COVID-19 vaccine reimbursement proposals. (Read more...)
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On July 19, 2021, CMS released the proposed rule for the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs) for calendar year (CY) 2022. The proposed rule builds on President Joe Biden’s July 9, 2021 executive order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” as it relates to increasing access and price transparency in the healthcare industry. In a press release regarding the proposed rule, CMS stated their commitment to addressing the persistent health inequities in the U.S. and finding opportunities to improve data collection that will lead to policy changes to help meet the health needs of patients. (Read more...)
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On July 2, 2021, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear a case between the hospital industry and federal government disputing cuts to the 340B Drug Discount Program (340B program) in the term beginning October 2021. The case, entitled American Hospital Association v. Becerra, reached the Court after a series of legal battles that began in 2017, when CMS published a final rule cutting Medicare Part B and state Medicaid payments in the 340B program by an estimated $1.6 billion. This Health Capital Topics article will review the history of the 340B program, the procedural history of the case, and reactions from hospital industry stakeholders on the Court’s undertaking of the case. (Read more...)
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In 2020, at the request of the U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means (the Committee), the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) began investigating the role that private equity (PE) plays in healthcare provided to Medicare beneficiaries. In its June 2021 “Report to the Congress on Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System,” MedPAC included for the first time a chapter on PE’s effect on Medicare, wherein it discussed the findings and observations from its investigation and answered a number of questions posed by the Committee. This Health Capital Topics article will analyze MedPAC’s answers to those questions, review its investigation of PE’s role in healthcare, and summarize reactions from stakeholders. (Read more...)
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"Are Disappointing Healthcare PE Deals a Sign to Come?" authored by HCC President, Todd A. Zigrang, MBA, MHA, FACHE, CVA, ASA, and, HCC Vice President and General Counsel, Jessica Bailey-Wheaton, Esq., was published by the National Association of Certified Valuators and Analysts (NACVA) in a recent issue of QuickRead.
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This one-hour webinar provides legal and valuation perspectives on the finalized changes to the Stark Law and the Anti-Kickback Statute. Specific issues covered include:
- The changes to the “big three” requirements – Fair Market Value, Commercial Reasonableness, and the Volume or Value Standard;
- The new exceptions and safe harbors for value-based arrangements, including where the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute final rules differ; and
- Other new and modified exceptions and safe harbors included in the final rules.
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