Policy and Legislation
Last week's deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" settled very little. For those in the healthcare market, I will suggest the big takeaway is that we should expect very little will be settled in the coming months and we will continue to face a great deal of uncertainty for years to come.
On January 2, 2013, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) published a notice of proposed rulemaking and notice of public hearing regarding implementation of an ACA “shared responsibility” provision.
The Federal Communications Commission is providing $400 million in annual funds to enable thousands of new providers across the country to cut costs and improve care through the use of telehealth networks.
During December, CMS estimated that it paid 10,000 Medicare eligible physicians $175 million and 4,200 Medicaid physicians $80 million in EHR incentives. In December, 850 hospitals under the combined programs received $1 billion. Total payments since the program's inception have reached $10.3 billion.
A new healthcare commission announced last week will focus on developing state-level policies aimed at reducing the cost of care while improving quality.
The National Quality Forum (NQF) has endorsed 14 infectious disease quality measures designed to help providers evaluate patients, manage treatments and improve patient care.
An analysis by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services show that for the third consecutive year, healthcare spending grew in 2011 by 3.9 percent or a total of $2.7 trillion, the lowest growth rate recorded since CMS began tracking healthcare spending in 1960.
Under the two-month patch approved by the House and Senate on January 1 to avert the "fiscal cliff" Congress has permanently cut more than $1.4 billion in funding that was earmarked to help consumer operated and oriented (CO-OP) health plans become established in all 50 states.
The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 became law on Jan. 2. Among its many provisions, the law postpones a scheduled 26.5 percent payment cut for physicians and other practitioners who treat Medicare patients, but payments to physicians may be temporarily held.
The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded $1.9 million to fund five regional and one national telehealth resource center.