Reimbursement

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Envision’s Bankruptcy Provides Insight Into All That is Ailing The Healthcare Industry

The increase in bankruptcy filings that restructuring professionals have been expecting is now arriving.  With rising inflation, increased interest rates, tightening credit markets, labor shortages and supply chain disruptions, we are starting to see a dramatic increase in filings.  Last week the American Bankruptcy Institute noted that commercial Chapter 11 filings increased 105% in May … Continue Reading

CMS Instructs IDR Entities Not To Issue New Payment Determinations Pending Further Guidance from Departments

As we recently reported, on February 6, 2023, Judge Kernodle of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a decision in Texas Medical Association v. U.S. Dep’t of H.H.S., Case No. 6:22-cv-372 vacating certain portions of the regulations governing the dispute resolution process governing reimbursement disputes under the No Surprises … Continue Reading

District Court Declares Portion of Regulations Governing NSA’s Dispute Resolution Process Invalid

On February 6, 2023, Judge Kernodle of the Eastern District of Texas once again vacated certain provisions of an agency rule as inconsistent with the No Surprises Act (the “NSA”).  Almost a year ago, Judge Kernodle issued a similar decision, which we blogged about.  Both decisions concerned the independent dispute resolution (“IDR”) process the NSA … Continue Reading

U.S. Supreme Court Agrees with HHS Payment Methodology for Disproportionate Share Hospitals

The fight about how Medicare compensates disproportionate share hospitals (“DSH”) is one of the longest-running reimbursement disputes of recent years, and it has generated copious work for judges around the country.  In a 5-4 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court settled one piece of the conflict:  the counting of “Medicare-entitled” patients in the Medicare fraction of … Continue Reading

Judge Strikes Down Part Of Administration’s Surprise Billing Rules In Win For Physicians

The Biden Administration’s Interim Final Rule implementing provisions of the No Surprises Act suffered its first major legal setback yesterday.  Judge Kernodle of the Eastern District of Texas issued a decision vacating portions of the Rule relating to the independent dispute resolution (“IDR”) process that the Act creates. As we’ve previously reported, the No Surprises … Continue Reading

AMA and AHA Challenge IDR Process under the No Surprises Act

The American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association filed suit under the Administrative Procedure Act in the District of Columbia District Court challenging portions of the interim final rule (the “Rule”) issued by the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Department of the Treasury, and the Office of Personnel … Continue Reading

CMS Adds 11 New Approved Telehealth Services During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Updates Guidance to States on Medicaid Telehealth Expansion

On October 14, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it has expanded its list of telehealth services approved for Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE).  The eleven telehealth services CMS just added are for cardiac and pulmonary rehabilitation.  CMS approved them using an expedited process it unveiled in … Continue Reading

Updated HHS Guidance on Provider Relief Fund Payments Could Help Providers Navigate Coming Oversight

On May 29, and June 2, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) updated its “Provider Relief Fund FAQs” on disbursements made to providers from the $175 billion Provider Relief Fund initially established by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, for expenses and lost revenues attributable to the coronavirus pandemic.  HHS’s … Continue Reading

The Time is Now for Providers to Apply for Some of the Remaining $130 Million Available Under the FCC’s COVID-19 Telehealth Program

As previously reported, Congress and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) have removed longstanding regulatory barriers to the broad deployment of telehealth for general care during the COVID-19 pandemic. In parallel, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act has established the Federal Communication Commission (“FCC”) COVID-19 Telehealth Program, (the “FCC Program”) to … Continue Reading

HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program Portal Is Now Open

Health Care Providers may now register for the COVID-19 Uninsured Program, allowing them to be reimbursed for the COVID-19 tests and treatment they have provided to uninsured individuals. The Health Resources & Services Administration (“HRSA”) anticipates that providers may begin submitting claims on May 6, and will begin receiving reimbursements by the middle of May. … Continue Reading

CMS Pumps the Brakes on Additional Medicare Accelerated and Advanced Payments as it Simultaneously Deploys COVID-19 Emergency Fund Grants

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is “reevaluating amounts that will be paid under its Accelerated Payment Program and suspending its Advance Payment Program to Part B suppliers effective immediately.”  CMS explained that it is pumping the brakes because it has already made almost $100 billion in accelerated or advanced … Continue Reading

It’s Official: HHS Announces Hospitals and Medicare Providers to Get Immediate $30 Billion Disbursement of CARES Act Funding for Coronavirus Expenses and Lost Revenues

Following up on Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma’s statements on Tuesday, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a press release announcing the immediate disbursement of $30 billion to Medicare hospitals and providers starting April 10. These payments have been or are already in the process of being … Continue Reading

UPDATED: CMS Expands Accelerated and Advance Payment Program

On March 28, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an expansion of its Accelerated and Advance Payment Program (the Program). The Program is designed to help providers with “significant cash flow problems resulting from…unusual circumstances of the hospital’s operation.” 42 U.S.C. § 1395g (e)(3). Usually deployed during times of natural disasters, … Continue Reading

HHS OIG Flags $2.2 Billion in Potential Medicare Advantage Overpayments for CMS Audits

CMS said it plans to audit risk-adjustment payments that Medicare Advantage (MA) plans received based on having identified additional diagnoses in beneficiary medical chart reviews. CMS’s action was spurred by a recent report from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) entitled, “Billions in Estimated Medicare Advantage Payments From Chart Reviews Raise Concerns.” (Click here … Continue Reading

Court Says CMS’s 2020 Payment Cuts to Off-Campus Provider-Based Departments Are Also Invalid, But They Cannot Be Challenged Till Next Year When They Are Rolled Out

As we discussed last week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will start fixing calendar year 2019 underpayments made to hospitals for outpatient services at off-campus provider-based departments. CMS explained that it will be doing this in response to a court order invalidating CMS’s 30% payment cuts to such off-campus … Continue Reading

CMS to Reverse Invalid Payment Cuts to Excepted Off-Campus Provider-Based Departments

Yesterday, in response to a court victory by several hospital associations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it will begin fixing calendar year 2019 underpayments made to hospitals for outpatient services at grandfathered off-campus provider-based departments (off-campus PBDs). CMS states it has instructed Medicare contractors to “automatically reprocess” claims paid at the … Continue Reading

Court Sides with Hospitals on CMS Site Neutral Payment Rule for Hospital Outpatient Departments

In a ruling on September 17, 2019 by Judge Rosemary M. Collyer, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia vacated portions of a 2018 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rule that reduced Medicare payments for clinic-visit services at off-campus hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs). By rulemaking, on January 1, 2019, CMS instituted … Continue Reading

Court Again Rules that HHS’s Medicare 340B Drug Price Cuts are Illegal, But Gives the Agency a Chance to “Unscramble the Egg”

As previously reported, last December the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had overstepped its bounds when it slashed the 2018 Medicare Part B outpatient reimbursement rates for covered drugs purchased under the 340B Program. AHA v. Azar, 1:18-cv-2084-RC (D.D.C. December 27, 2018). … Continue Reading

Hospital Court Victories Trigger CMS to Walk-Back Rule Lowering Caps on Medicaid DSH Payments

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has withdrawn a controversial policy, first introduced in 2010, which changes how much a Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) may receive annually in supplemental DSH payments. CMS took this action in response to several court rulings invalidating the agency’s policy. Despite the agency’s walk-back of its policy, … Continue Reading

Federal Court Held HHS Lacks the Authority to Impose Dramatic 340B Reimbursement Rate Reduction

On December 27, 2018, the provider community scored a major victory when the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia held that the Medicare statute did not authorize the Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to impose a nearly 30% reduction in 340B Reimbursement rates. The legal implications of this decision may be … Continue Reading

CMS Proposes Invalidating Adjuster Methodology and Recouping Past Improper Payments From Medicare Advantage Organizations

On October 26, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued a proposed rule that will, among others initiatives, allow CMS to recover higher dollar amounts of improper payments made to Medicare Advantage Organizations.  Improper payments are identified through Risk Adjustment Data Validation (“RADV”) audits, which are audits conducted to determine whether the … Continue Reading

Supreme Court To Decide If HHS May Skip Notice And Comment Requirements For Certain Payment Rules

On September 27, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review a D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision that had tossed out a new calculation method, employed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), which had cut Medicare payments to hospitals. Azar v. Allina Health Services (“Allina Health”). HHS itself estimated that … Continue Reading

House Panel Examines 340B Legislative Reforms

On Wednesday, July 11, 2018, House lawmakers again signaled their intent to reform the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) 340B Drug Pricing Program (340B) during an Energy and Commerce (E&C) Subcommittee on Health hearing. Since 2015, both E&C and the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions … Continue Reading
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