Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

March142020October252024

TRUMP, CMS TAKE ACTION TO FIGHT CORONAVIRUS NATIONAL EMERGENCY

The Trump Administration announced on March 12 aggressive actions and regulatory flexibilities to help healthcare providers and states respond to and contain the spread of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is…

November132019October252024

CMS VERMA ATTACKS CRITICS OF MEDICAID WORK REQUIREMENT, PUSHES FOR TIGHTER ELIGIBILITY

By Phil Galewitz Seema Verma, the Trump administration’s top Medicaid official, Nov. 12 sharply attacked critics of her plan to force some Medicaid enrollees to work, a policy that led to thousands of people losing coverage in Arkansas. “We cannot allow…

CMS ISSUES RENEWED GUIDANCE IN EFFORT TO ENSURE MEDICAID PROGRAM INTEGRITY

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance to state Medicaid agencies June 21 that outlines the necessary assurances that states should make to ensure that program resources are reserved for those who meet eligibility requirements. This guidance…

December302018

CMS SUPPLY NUMBER RATE REDUCTIONS FOR 2019 LOWEST FOR CLARIVEIN

By Larry Storer The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule Nov. 1, 2018, that includes updates to payment policies, payment rates and quality provisions for services furnished under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule on or…

VOLUNTARY MACRA CODES MAY DETERMINE WHAT DOCTORS ARE PAID

New patient relationship categories and codes are one of the most important provisions of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), according to a piece in the New England Journal of Medicine. In January 2018, the billing-code modifiers, which allow…

WISCONSIN MEDICAID WORK PROGRAM GETS CMS OK OCT. 31

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a waiver to implement work requirements in Wisconsin’s Medicaid program Oct. 31, making it the fourth state to enact such an approach. Under the waiver, beneficiaries in the state’s BadgerCare program would…

CMS SEEKS COMMENT ON PROPOSED RULE TO USE IPI PAY MODEL BY DEC 31

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services intends to test whether phasing down the Medicare payment amount for selected Part B drugs to more closely align with international prices will meet President Trump’s blueprint to lower drug costs and reduce…

CMS ANNOUNCES PARTICIPANTS IN NEW VALUE-BASED BUNDLED PAYMENT MODEL

On Oct. 9, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that 1,299 entities have signed agreements with the agency to participate in the Administration’s Bundled Payments for Care Improvement – Advanced (BPCI Advanced) Model. The participating entities…

MEDICAL GROUPS SEE PROGRESS IN CMS’s EHR APPROACH IN HOSPITAL RULE

Medical groups have applauded steps that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services took to ease administrative burden through a new rule on hospital payments, while still pressing the agency for further changes in its approach to electronic health records.…