DMEPOS Hill Briefing Roundup
As previously reported, NASL Medical Products Committee Chair, David Lefkowitz, briefed Members of Congress and their staff on the impact of Round Two Single Payment Amounts for the DMEPOS Competitive Bidding Program. The only one to discuss the issues that nursing facilities face, the NASL Committee Chair shared specific examples of problems with current bid awards. NASL has worked closely on this issue with Representative GT Thompson (R-PA), who convened the briefing. NASL also was the only trade group to have a provider speak at the March 14, 2013 educational briefing for Congressional staff. Read more
CMS' Dueling Part B Inpatient Billing Rulings
On March 13, 2013, CMS issued a proposed rule and an Administrator's Ruling, both of which deal with payments for hospital inpatient services under Medicare Part B. The proposed rule would allow additional Part B payment when a Medicare Part A claim is denied because the beneficiary should have been treated as an outpatient, rather than admitted to the hospital for inpatient care. The Administrator's Ruling (CMS-1455-R) is intended to address the significant number of pending appeals for "reasonable and necessary" denials of Part A hospital inpatient claims. Read more
NASL Joins AHCA in Meeting with CMS Clinical Standards Staff
NASL President Garry Pezzano, NASL Executive Vice President Cynthia Morton and Felicia Chew of Genesis Healthcare joined AHCA staff for a briefing of senior leaders from CMS. The briefing informed staff from CMS' Office of Clinical Standards & Quality on the progress NASL and AHCA have made in developing therapy outcome measures. Read more
Lawmakers' RAC Reform Bill
Two Members of the House again are pushing to improve the Medicare Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program that they say adds unnecessary costs and causes bureaucratic headaches for hospitals. Representatives Sam Graves (R-MO) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the Medicare Audit Improvement Act of 2013 (H.R. 1250), which would place a hard cap on Medicare auditors' Additional Document Requests, or ADRs. The bill also would limit ADRs to 2 percent of hospital claims, allowing a maximum of 500 ADRs every 45 days. Read more
Observation Stays Get Second Look
The bipartisan bill, Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act (S. 569, H.R. 1179), was re-introduced on March 14, 2013, by Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and by Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT) and Tom Latham (R-IA). The legislation would ease access to Medicare coverage for patients who require a stay in a skilled nursing facility after a prolonged hospital stay under observation status. Read more
New ONC Issue Brief & More on HIE RFI
The latest HIT issue brief from ONC, Health IT in Long-term and Post Acute Care Issue Brief, serves as yet another indicator of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology's (ONC's) interest in getting LTPAC involved in HIT and EHR adoption.... NASL will be submitting comments in response to the ONC/CMS Request for Information (RFI) on Advancing Interoperability and Health Information Exchange. Read more
HIT, Medical & Mobile Device Hearings
The House Energy & Commerce Committee may have tripled its knowledge of health IT and medical and mobile devices with a weeklong series of hearings focused on HIT-related issues. Read more
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