Posted by Jason Greis on March 2, 2011 under Articles | 
On February 18, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an interim final rule (Interim Rule) implementing Section 6113 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). The Interim Rule, which becomes effective March 23, 2011, requires administrators of long-term care facilities (LTCF), including skilled nursing facilities (SNF) eligible for reimbursement under Medicare and nursing facilities (NF) eligible for reimbursement under Medicaid, to submit prior written notification of an impending LTCF closure to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (Secretary), the state’s long-term care ombudsman and residents of the facility and their legal representatives or other responsible parties. LTCF administrators that do not comply with the new notice requirements may face sanctions, including civil monetary penalties of up to $100,000 and exclusion from participation in Federal health care programs. In addition, LTCFs must have related policies in place to avoid being cited for survey deficiencies. Read More...
Tags: 6113, adminstrator, brent rawlings, close, closure, cms, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, jason greis, joseph hylak-reinholtz, mcguirewoods, nf, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, ppaca, relocate, Relocation, skilled nursing facility, snf
Posted by Jason Greis on March 1, 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”). The purpose of the Final Report is to recommend annual Medicare payment updates for the following nine Medicare fee-for-service (“FFS”) payment systems: hospitals, physicians, ambulatory surgery centers, outpatient dialysis services, hospices, skilled nursing facilities, home health services, inpatient rehabilitation facility services and long-term acute care hospital services. Read More...
Tags: 2010 report to congress, 2011, bundling, ffs, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, inpatient, inpatient rehabilitation facility, ipps, irf, long term acute care hospital, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, march, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, MedPAC, opps, outpatient, payment, skilled nursing facility, snf, update
Posted by Jason Greis on August 7, 2009 under Articles |
Many LTACHs and other post-acute care providers have inquired whether they are eligible to apply for and receive incentive payments to adopt certified electronic health record (“EHR”) technology under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the “HITECH Act” or the “Act”). To put it simply, the answer appears to be “no.” Read More...
Tags: acute long term hospital association, altha, american recovery and reinvestment act, ARRA, bill walters, children hospitals, clinical cancer research center, comprehensive cancer center, ehr, electronic health record, electronic medical record, emr, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, HITECH, incentive, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, payment, psychiatric hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, skilled nursing facility, snf
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
Posted by Jason Greis on March 20, 2009 under Articles |
According to an audit report recently released by the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (OIG), hospitals paid under the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) may have received an estimated $25 million in overpayments between fiscal years 2003 and 2005 as a result of noncompliance with Medicare’s post-acute transfer policy. The purpose of this policy is to provide a disincentive for hospitals to discharge patients to another hospital, a skilled nursing facility, or a patient’s home early in a patient’s stay in order to minimize costs while still receiving a full diagnosis-related group (DRG) payment. Read More...
Tags: 42 C.F.R. § 412.4(d), cms, drg, greisguide, greisguidetoltachs, home health, hospital, j. brian jackson, jason greis, ltac, LTACH, LTCH, mcguirewoods, medicare, oig, post-acute transfer policy, recoup, skilled nursing facility
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