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 July 14, 2009 under Articles, Industry News |
Section 114(b) of the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (“MMSEA”) required the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct a study on the feasibility of establishing national LTACH facility and patient criteria for purposes of determining medical necessity, appropriateness of admission, and continued stay at, and discharge from, LTACHs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) awarded a contract for this study to Research Triangle Institute International (“RTI”), which was previously awarded a contract in 2005 to evaluate the feasibility of developing patient and facility level characteristics for LTACHs that could distinguish LTACH patients from those treated in other acute care settings. RTI was scheduled to submit its most recent report required under the MMSEA to Congress by June 2009. According to an anonymous source within CMS, the agency is presently reviewing the report’s recommendations for legislation and administrative actions and CMS hopes to post the report on its website by the end of July 2009. Read More...
Tags: cms, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, hospital, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act, medicare, mmsea, post-acute, report, research triangle, RTI, study
Posted by Jason Greis on May 3, 2009 under Articles |
On April 27, 2009 Congressmen Earl Pomeroy (D-ND), John Larson (D-CT), Lloyd Doggett (D-TX), and John Yarmuth (D-KY) introduced H.R. 2124, also known as the Medicare Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 2009 (the “Act”). The Act was introduced for the purpose of extending certain payment and regulatory relief (i.e., a reprieve from the “25% Rule,” which generally reduces payment for a certain percentage of patients transferred from short-term acute-care hospitals to long-term acute care hospitals (“LTACHs”)) gained by LTACHs under the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (“MMSEA”). The MMSEA also established a temporary three-year moratorium on the development of new LTACHs and new satellites and bed increases from December 29, 2007 to December 28, 2010. Read More...
Tags: 25%, development, Earl Pomeroy, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, H.R. 2124, hospital, jason greis, John Larson, John Yarmuth, Lloyd Doggett, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, Medicare Long-Term Care Hospital Improvement Act of 2009, mmsea, moratorium
Posted by Jason Greis on March 8, 2009 under eNewsletter |
This issue of the GreisGuide to LTACHs Newsletter contains articles and information on:
- The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Makes Technical Corrections to the MMSEA Favorable to LTACHs;
- $15 Billion in Federal Relief Spending to Become Immediately Available for State Medicaid Programs;
- “Heard it Through the Grapevine”–EBITDA Multiples Appear to be Down for Minority Interests in LTACHs;
- Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) Update: Me Thinks Thou Dost Protest;
- IRS Report Provides Insight into Community Benefit and Executive Compensation Practices of Tax-Exempt Hospitals;
- News Posted in February; and
- Upcoming Events
Please click here for a .PDF copy of this Newsletter. Read More...
Tags: american recovery and reinvestment act, ARRA, EBITDA, efca, executive compensation, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, hospital, irs, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, march, mmsea, newsletter
Posted by Jason Greis on February 21, 2009 under Articles |
On February 17, 2009 President Obama signed into law a $787 billion economic stimulus package called the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Act). The Act provides $13 million in funding for LTACHs by making important technical corrections to the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (MMSEA) impacting application of the “25% Rule” and to rules generally placing a three-year moratorium on the establishment and classification of new LTACHs, LTACH satellite facilities and LTACH beds in existing LTACHs or satellite facilities. Read More...
Tags: 25% rule, 4502, aha, altha, american recovery and reinvestment act, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, certificate of need, cms, cobra, con, correction, freestanding, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, hospital, hr 1, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, Medicaid, medicare, MedPAC, mmsea, moratorium, nalth, satellite, technical
Posted by Jason Greis on January 4, 2009 under Articles |
On December 4, 2008 the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPAC) held a public meeting to review the adequacy of Medicare payments under the Long Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH-PPS) for services provided by LTACHs. Commissioners reviewed data related to Medicare payment and cost trends, access to capital, quality of care, access to care, and other factors. MedPAC predicts that average LTACH Medicare margins will decrease industry-wide from 4.7% in 2007 to 0.5% in 2009 primarily as a result of accelerating growth in the cost of care and recently enacted Medicare payment policy changes. As a result, MedPAC proposed a draft recommendation to Congress in favor of an increase to the Medicare payment rate for LTACH services for the 2010 Rate Year by the projected rate of increase in the market basket index, less adjustments for productivity growth. Read More...
Tags: 2010 rate year, capital, draft, facility certification, hospital, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, medicare, MedPAC, mmsea, patient admission, quality of care, recommendation, research triangle institute, RTI, septicemia
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