National Medicare Policy Expert to Address NASL

Managing Director of Brookings' Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform, Barbara J. Gage, will speak at the NASL 24th Annual Meeting in Phoenix this October. Well-known to NASL, Dr. Gage is a leading expert on Medicare post-acute care issues such as bundled payments, episodes of care and research on the CARE tool, which is inching closer to reality. With Congress focusing intently on PAC reform, you won't want to miss her presentation to NASL. Register now!

In Case You Missed It...

Here's the August 29th headline from McKnight's: NASL leader praises government investigation into medical equipment bidding process
The investigation was announced by HHS Inspector General Daniel Levinson, who said the OIG will look into CMS' handling of Round 2 of the Medicare DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program. The investigation was prompted by a request from Congressmen G.T. Thompson (R-PA) and Bruce Braley (D-IA), who led efforts to delay Round 2. Read the McKnight’s article and see article below on the OIG report.

Missing/Unsubitted Discharge Assessments Due to CMS
CMS recently issued a Survey & Certification (S&C) letter (13-56-NH) requiring providers to enter all missing or unsubmitted discharge assessments by September 30, 2013 on the MDS. Read the S&C Letter.

NASL Input to Congress on Post-Acute Care Reform

On June 19, the House Ways & Means and Senate Finance Committees released a letter asking for input on post-acute care (PAC) reform. The Committees requested input from stakeholders, with the goal of improving patient quality of care and care transitions, while rationalizing payment systems and payment reforms. Read more.

Nurse Rosie Connects with Congress 

The team at RosieConnect  /Life Systems hosted a hometown visit with Representative Phil Gingrey, MD (R-GA) on August 21, 2013. The Congressman, who has been active on health IT issues as part of the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee, shared his perspective on regulatory and other FDA-related issues. Read more

CMS Gives New Meaning to "I'm a PEPPER"

The latest PEPPER campaign has nothing to do with soft drinks or spices. This campaign revolves around CMS' data-rich Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER). PEPPER delivers provider-specific Medicare data statistics for services that the federal government views as vulnerable to improper payments. Read more.

OIG to Review Controversial Competitive Bidding Concerns in 4 States

The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) will look at the controversial Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics & Supplies (DMEPOS) competitive bidding program in Tennessee, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio after lawmakers requested the agency see if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had awarded contracts to suppliers who were unlicensed in those states in order to hit a set price for DME. Read more.

GAO Looks at MACs, RACs, ZPICs & More

This week's GAO report, Medicare Program Integrity Increasing Consistency of Contractor Requirements May Improve Administrative Efficiency, looks at how the various Medicare and Medicaid contractors, which are managed by different offices within the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), conduct post-payment reviews on Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) claims as required by various legislative actions. Read more.