Posted by Jason Greis on October 13, 2010 under Articles |
Thunder rolled down from Capitol Hill last week when Sen. Charles Grassley (R–Iowa) claimed that certain hospital systems and associations were misapplying the intent of Section 501(r)(5)(B) that prohibits the use of gross charges under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In their comments to the IRS regarding implementing regulations, the American Hospital Association (AHA) urged the IRS to apply a “gross charges” basis to charge those who do not qualify for financial assistance, and to use it as a starting place for calculating assistance to those who do. Read More...
Tags: 501(c)(3), charity care, grassley, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, hospital, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, mcguirewoods, milton cerny, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, ppaca, tax exempt
Posted by Jason Greis on October 12, 2010 under Articles |
In addition to the numerous misconceptions about Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and the Shared Savings Program, there are a number of unknowns regarding implementation, including permitted legal structures, payment amounts, and performance measurement. This article identifies and discusses some of the more significant unanswered questions about ACOs and the Shared Savings Program. Read More...
Tags: accountable care organization, aco, brent rawlings, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, jason greis, jim riley, long term care hospital, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, medicare, Patient Protection and Accountable Care Act, per capita, performance, post-acute, ppaca, quality, scott downing, shared savings program, structure, thomas stallings
Posted by Jason Greis on October 2, 2010 under Articles |
Section 3022 of the Patient Protection and Accountable Care Act (the Act) creates the Shared Savings Program for Medicare. Under the Shared Savings Program, which is to take effect no later than Jan. 1, 2012, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) that meet certain requirements established by the Secretary of Health and Human Services will be eligible to receive additional payments from Medicare where certain performance guidelines are met and cost-savings targets are achieved. The amount of the additional payment will be a percentage of the difference between the estimated per capita Medicare expenditures for patients assigned to the ACO and the cost-savings per capita Medicare expenditures threshold. Read More...
Tags: accountable care organization, aco, brent rawlings, cms, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, hospital, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, mcguirewoods, medicare, misconceptions, part a, part b, physician, post-acute, shared savings program, thomas stallings
Posted by Jason Greis on August 28, 2010 under Articles, Industry News |
Kindred Healthcare has moved to expand its market presence in key cluster markets in California and Texas by signing definitive agreements to purchase five LTACHs in southern California for $180 million and three Texas-based nursing and rehabilitation centers for $38 million in two separate all-cash deals for a total purchase price of $218 million. Both transactions require regulatory approvals and are expected to close later this year. Read More...
Tags: acquisition, california, debt, EBITDA, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, jason greis, kindred, long term acute care hospital, long term care hospital, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, texas, valuation, vista
Posted by Jason Greis on August 24, 2010 under Articles |
The federal government pays more than 40% of all money spent on healthcare in the U.S. and it is focused like never before on managing those costs. Along with reducing already low reimbursement levels, CMS will look to two primary means for cost reduction–utilization and admissions review and reimbursements tied to outcomes. For post-acute care facilities this translates into a single imperative – “admitting the appropriate patient”. Read More...
Tags: admission, admit, appropriate, cost-effective, greisguide, jason greis, long term acute care hospital, long term care hospital, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, medicare, post-acute, reimbursement, software, vindicet, yann beaullan-thong
Posted by Jason Greis on August 12, 2010 under Articles |
Section 6003 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148 (H.R. 3590) (PPACA) makes a change to the “in-office ancillary services” exception to the Stark physician self-referral law that impacts physician practices providing certain radiology services in their offices. In short, the change requires physicians making a referral for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and computed tomography (CT), or certain other radiology services in their offices, to make a disclosure to the patient that such services can be provided elsewhere and to include a list of alternative providers. Read More...
Tags: brent rawlings, ct, david wolff, doctor, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, in-office ancillary services exception, long term care hospital, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, mcguirewoods, mri, pet, physician, ppaca, tom stallings