Posted by Jason Greis on March 28, 2010 under Articles | 
On March 1, 2010, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (“MedPAC” or the “Commission”) released its 2010 Report to the Congress: Medicare Payment Policy (the “Final Report”) recommending annual Medicare payment updates for Medicare fee-for-service (“FFS”) payment systems, including among others, hospitals (including both general acute care and long term care hospitals) and physicians. MedPAC is an independent congressional agency established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 to formulate recommendations to Congress to address quality and cost-containment issues affecting the Medicare program and its beneficiaries. Two reports, issued in March and June each year, are the primary outlets for MedPAC’s policy and payment system updates, which change base rates paid by Medicare for a unit of service provided by a FFS provider—for example, a hospital admission or a physician visit or procedure. Recommended payment system updates are based on an assessment of payment adequacy that takes into account beneficiaries’ access to care, supply of providers, quality of care, providers’ access to capital and Medicare margins. Read More...
Tags: bundling, CBO, cms, doctor, equipment utilization assumption rate, ffs, grassley, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, Health Care and Education Affordability Act of 2010, hhs, hr 4691, imaging, independent payment advisory board, ipab, jason greis, long term acute care hospital, long term care hospital, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, medicare, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, MedPAC, obama, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, pha, physician, physician-owned hospital, primary care physician, radiologist, sgr, sustainable growth rate, tort reform
Posted by Jason Greis on November 19, 2009 under Articles |
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) unveiled the long-awaited Senate health care bill, titled the “Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act,” yesterday evening. In a news conference held to announce the bill, Sen. Reid said that the bill embodied the Precquisident’s health care goals, calling it a “tremendous step forward.” The bill would cost $848 billion and would reduce budget deficits by $130 billion over ten years, according to the recently released Congressional Budget Office (CBO) score. Read More...
Tags: bundle, bundling, CBO, cloture, congressional budget office, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, hospital, hospital acquired condition, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, mcguirewoods consulting, mmsea, mona mohib, patient protection and affordable health care act, reid, senate, senator
Posted by Jason Greis on July 16, 2009 under Articles |
President Obama’s looming deadline to hold Congressional pre-conferences and floor votes on comprehensive healthcare reform legislation before Congress’s August recess has prompted a flurry of legislative activity this week. On Tuesday, July 14, 2009, the House released the Tri-Committee health care reform bill, officially titled H.R. 3200, America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (the “Tri-Committee Bill”), and with its party-line vote on Wednesday, July 15, 2009, the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (“HELP”) Committee became the first congressional committee to approve a health care reform bill (a copy of which is attached by clicking here). The Senate Finance Committee’s health reform bill may be released as early as next week. Read More...
Tags: bundle, bundling, CBO, congressional budget office, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, Health Education Labor and Pensions, HELP, home health agency, hospital, hospital-based outpatient rehabilitation, inpatient rehabilitation facility, irf, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, mcguirewoods, Medicare Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 2009, Medicare Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, mmsea, mona mohib, physician-owned hospital, post-acute, rangel, scott downing, skilled nursing facility, snf, tri-committee bill, waxman
Posted by Jason Greis on April 3, 2009 under Articles, Whitepapers |
The current Congressional fervor to overhaul the U.S. health care system has some policy makers discussing how to change the way post-acute providers, including LTACHs, home health agencies, skilled nursing facilities, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and outpatient-based hospital rehabilitation facilities are compensated for treating Medicare beneficiaries. One solution proposed by President Barack Obama, the Congressional Budget Office, and certain congressional leaders is to bundle payments for acute care and post-acute care services provided within the first thirty days after being discharged from an acute care hospital. This bundling model has been proposed many times since the early 1980s as a measure to control escalating post-acute care costs, decrease the number of preventable acute-care hospital readmissions, and increase Medicare cost savings but has never received broad support-until now. Read More...
Tags: acute, budget, bundle, bundling, CBO, congressional budget office, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, home health, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, medicare, obama, post-acute, skilled nursing facility, snf
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