The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a final rule to allow for the importation of certain prescription drugs from Canada. In conjunction with the final rule, the FDA also released guidance for manufacturers that lays out a pathway for manufacturers to import their own drugs. The rule has not yet been published in [...] Read More
On September 18, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its long-awaited Specialty Care Models to Improve Quality of Care and Reduce Expenditures final rule (link) and the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) released its Removing Financial Disincentives to Living Organ Donation final rule (link) and updated guidelines (link). These rules [...] Read More
On the evening of September 2, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final rule, Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Final Policy Changes and Fiscal Year 2021 Rates (link), which updates the FY 2021 payment systems for [...] Read More
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released on its website an interim final rule with comment (IFC) related to the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). The IFC has not yet been released in the Federal Register. The IFC revises requirements for long-term care (LTC) facilities and strengthens CMS enforcement to ensure compliance [...] Read More
August 11, 2020 On Tuesday, August 11, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Innovation Center announced the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Model to address disparities in healthcare services in rural communities. The CHART model is a result of President Trump’s Executive Order last week on Improving Rural Health and Telehealth Access [...] Read More
CMS has released the CY 2021 proposed Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). This proposed rule includes policies for payment to physicians as well as Medicare Part B policies. Comments on the proposed rule are due on October 5, 2020. CMS Likely to Finalize Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Provisions in December Typically, CMS releases its Medicare Physician [...] Read More
On the evening of July 31, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released three payment rules for the upcoming fiscal year 2021. These rules contain finalized payment policies for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), hospices, and inpatient psychiatric facilities. Because of the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, CMS has limited the annual rulemaking [...] Read More
On May 22, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule adopting policies for contract year 2021 for Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare Part D. Acknowledging the upcoming MA and Part D bid deadlines for the 2021 plan year, CMS has decided only to address a portion of the proposed [...] Read More
On the evening of May 11, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the fiscal year (FY) 2021 proposed rule for inpatient hospitals and long-term care hospitals (LTCHs). The rule includes Medicare’s annual payment update as well as policies related to quality measurement, new technology add-on payments (NTAP), and CAR T-cell therapies. [...] Read More
In addition to a second interim final rule to address the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) also updated the current blanket waivers that are aimed at helping providers respond to the declared public health emergency (PHE). Below are the new waiver items updated by CMS after April 21, 2020. Telehealth [...] Read More