Medicare Blog

what are current legislative events pertaining to medicare

by Clarabelle Haley Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
image

Should Medicare pay for “never events”?

Medicare. Use this page to browse bills in the U.S. Congress related to the subject Medicare, as determined by the Library of Congress. Subject areas of legislation are provided by …

How does the Modernization Act affect Medicare payments?

Dec 01, 2021 · Current Law and Regulations. Section 1877 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395nn) prohibits physicians from referring Medicare patients for certain designated health services (DHS) to an entity with which the physician or a member of the physician's immediate family has a financial relationship unless an exception applies. It also prohibits an entity from …

What do the study’s findings raise issues for Medicare and public health officials?

On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed H.R. 3590, the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act," into law. The new law, also known as the "Affordable Care Act," makes important changes to Medicare Part A and Part B. First, the Affordable Care Act provides free Medicare Part A, along with eligibility for Part B and D, to individuals exposed to certain health hazards within …

What does the proposed American Health Care Act mean for Medicaid?

Jan 06, 2022 · Tracks, evaluates and develops provisions of annual legislative proposals for Medicare, Medicaid, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), private health insurance programs, Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and related statutes affecting health care financing, health insurance, …

image

What legislation enacted Medicare?

the Social Security Amendments of 1965On July 30, 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Medicare and Medicaid Act, also known as the Social Security Amendments of 1965, into law. It established Medicare, a health insurance program for the elderly, and Medicaid, a health insurance program for people with limited income.Feb 8, 2022

What is Medicare for All Act of 2021?

Introduced in House (03/17/2021) To establish an improved Medicare for All national health insurance program. To establish an improved Medicare for All national health insurance program.

How is Medicare regulated?

Medicare is a federal health insurance program regulated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). As a member currently enrolled in a CalPERS Medicare health benefits plan, you don't need to provide CalPERS with your new card or MBI number.Feb 23, 2022

What are the Medicare cuts in 2022?

Scheduled Payment Reductions to 2022 Medicare Physician Fee ScheduleCutsPhase 1 Jan. – March 2022Phase 3 July – Dec. 2022Medicare Physician CF* Reduction0.82%0.82%Medicare Sequestration0%2%PAYGO Sequestration0%0%TOTAL Cuts Across the Board**0.82%2.82%Feb 7, 2022

What is the Medicare Part B premium amount for 2021?

$148.50The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that the standard monthly Part B premium will be $148.50 in 2021, an increase of $3.90 from $144.60 in 2020.

Why should we have Medicare for All?

A single-payer, universal health care system would reduce anxiety and debt, increase health and happiness, and help the lower and middle classes.May 7, 2020

What level of government administers Medicare?

The federal agency that oversees CMS, which administers programs for protecting the health of all Americans, including Medicare, the Marketplace, Medicaid, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

What is government Medicare?

Medicare is the federal government program that provides health care coverage (health insurance) if you are 65+, under 65 and receiving Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) for a certain amount of time, or under 65 and with End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD).

What is blended word of Medicare?

Answer: Medical + Care = Medicare.Mar 4, 2021

What is the 2021 Medicare anesthesia conversion factor?

$21.5600The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a revised Medicare Physician Conversion Factor (CF) of $34.8931. The CF represents a 3.3% reduction from the 2020 CF of $36.0869. The 2021 Anesthesia CF is $21.5600, this is in comparison to the 2020 Anesthesia CF of $22.2016.

What is the Medicare conversion factor for 2021?

34.8931CMS has recalculated the MPFS payment rates and conversion factor to reflect these changes. The revised MPFS conversion factor for CY 2021 is 34.8931.

Is Medicare holding payments for 2022?

However, the legislation only stops a 2 percent Medicare sequester cut until April 2022, when providers will face a 1 percent cut through June and the full cut after. The PAYGO cuts are also slated to resume at the start of 2023, and Congress failed to delay the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule cuts entirely.Dec 20, 2021

What is the law that prohibits physicians from referring Medicare patients?

Current Law and Regulations. Section 1877 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395nn) prohibits physicians from referring Medicare patients for certain designated health services (DHS) to an entity with which the physician or a member of the physician's immediate family has a financial relationship unless an exception applies.

What is the prohibition on presenting a bill to anyone for DHS furnished?

It also prohibits an entity from presenting or causing to be presented a bill or claim to anyone for DHS furnished as a result of a prohibited referral . In addition, section 1903 (s) (42 U.S.C. 1396b) of the Social Security Act extends this referral prohibition to the Medicaid program.

Where is the physician self referral law?

The physician self-referral law can be found in section 1877 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395nn). The regulations are located in Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations §411.350 – §411.389.

What is the Affordable Care Act?

First, the Affordable Care Act provides free Medicare Part A, along with eligibility for Part B and D, to individuals exposed to certain health hazards within areas federally determined to represent an environmentally-based public health ...

How many outreach letters did the SSA send in 2012?

During May 2012, SSA mailed about 3.1 million outreach letters to Medicare beneficiaries who are potentially eligible for Medicare Savings Programs (MSPs) or the Part D Low-Income Subsidy (Extra Help).

What is the SSA's annual outreach?

This annual outreach, stipulated under Section 1144 of the Social Security Act, requires SSA to notify low-income Medicare beneficiaries each year about specific programs available to assist them with their medical and prescription drug expenses.

What is Medicare Part D?

Effective January 1, 2006, a new Medicare Prescription Drug Program , also referred to as Medicare Part D, was launched. In addition to the prescription drug insurance the program makes available to all Medicare beneficiaries, the program also provides subsidies – or “extra help”-- for those Medicare beneficiaries who have limited income and resources. These subsidies reduce out of pocket costs paid by those Prescription Drug Program (PDP) enrollees who have limited income (below 150% of the poverty line applicable to the size of the family involved) and resources (up to $12,677 in assets for an individual or $25,260 for a married couple in 2011) by providing reduced monthly premiums and other cost-sharing assistance.

Is Social Security working with Medicare?

The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act. Social Security is now working with the States to increase participation in Medicare Savings Programs. For information on our expanded role, see our fact sheet.

Who introduced the Telemental Health Care Access Act?

The Telemental Health Care Access Act ( H.R. 4058 ), introduced by Rep. Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Rep. Bill Johnson (R-OH), which would eliminate the six-month, in-person service requirement and permanently lift certain Medicare coverage limitations on where the patient can receive telehealth services for behavioral health services.

Who introduced the audio only telehealth act?

The Permanency for Audio-Only Telehealth Act ( H.R. 3447 ), introduced by Rep. Jason Smith (R-MO), and Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ), which would continue to allow Medicare to cover mental and behavioral health services provided via audio-only telehealth.

Does Medicare cover telehealth?

APASI supports bipartisan legislation that would expand flexibilities in Medicare coverage of mental health and substance use services furnished via telehealth, including audio-only telehealth.

Can Medicare beneficiaries access telehealth?

Fortunately, over the past several weeks, several bills have been introduced in Congress with APASI’s support that would allow Medicare beneficiaries to continue accessing mental health and substance use services via telehealth. These are:

How much is Medicare sequestration in FY2023?

In FY2023, the Medicare payment reductions are to be 2.90% for the first six months in which the sequestration order is effective and, for the second six months, the payment reduction is to be 1.11%. Hospitals.

When did Medicare extend outpatient therapy?

Revised requirements for Medicare payments for outpatient therapy services, including extending through December 31, 2013 the process allowing exceptions to limits (caps) on medically necessary outpatient therapy services. Made reductions to Medicare payments for multiple therapy services provided to the same patient on ...

What is Medicare Dependent Hospital Program?

Extended the Medicare Dependent Hospital Program (MDH) through FY2013 to allow qualifying small rural hospitals with a high proportion of Medicare patients to continue receiving Medicare payment adjustments. Extended the additional Medicare payment for inpatient services for low-volume hospitals through FY2013. Under the low-volume hospital extension, hospitals with fewer than 1,600 Medicare discharges and that are 15 miles or more from the nearest like hospital receive a graduated payment adjustment of up to 25%. Upon expiration, the adjustment will revert to original standards of fewer than 200 total discharges and more than 25 road miles.

How long did the Medicare and Medicaid extension extend?

Amended the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 to extend for an additional 4 years : 1) certain rules for payments to LTCH hospitals-within-hospitals, and 2) the delay in the 25% patient threshold payment adjustment.

What is a PAC provider?

Required that post-acute care (PAC) providers (defined as long-term care hospitals (LTCHs), inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and home health agencies (HHAs)) report standardized patient assessment data, data on quality measures, and data on resource use and other measures, all of which meet specified requirements. Required the data to be standardized and interoperable to allow for exchange of longitudinal information among PAC and other providers to better enable them to coordinate care, improve Medicare beneficiary outcomes, and enhance discharge planning. Required PAC providers to report the standardized patient assessment data (at minimum for patient admissions and discharges) by October 1, 2018 for LTCHs, IRFs, and SNFs, and by January 1, 2019 for HHAs. Also required the Secretary by those same dates to ensure a match between the patient assessment data submission and claims data submitted for that patient.

What is the Urban Institute report on Medicare?

The Urban report offers important insights into how transforming Medicare to a “premium support” system would work in practice—and how it would adversely affect people with Medicare. The report— Restructuring Medicare: The False Promise of Premium Support by Robert A. Berenson, Laura Skopec, and Stephen Zuckerman— was funded by the AARP Public Policy Institute. Read

How much does social isolation affect Medicare?

Now a new study—the first to examine whether social isolation also affects health care spending among older adults—finds that a lack of social contacts among older adults is associated with an estimated $6.7 billion in additional Medicare spending annually.

How much will Medicaid cut in 2026?

According to newanalysis from the AARP Public Policy Institute, states may cut Medicaid HCBS by as much as $46 billion in 2026 to stay within their allotted per capita caps-- a 22 percent cut. Read the new Insight on the Issues to learn more and find out the potential impact on your state. Read.

What is the BCRA?

The Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) puts Medicaid home- and community-based services (HCBS) on the chopping block. The proposed demonstration program for Medicaid HCBS, included in the revised version of the Senate Bill on July 13, does not change the big picture. According to newanalysis from the AARP Public Policy Institute, states may cut Medicaid HCBS by as much as $46 billion in 2026 to stay within their allotted per capita caps-- a 22 percent cut. Read the new Insight on the Issues to learn more and find out the potential impact on your state. Read

What age group is considered to be in the non-group insurance market?

This series of reports looks at older adults ages 50 to 64 in the nongroup (individual) health insurance market, for whom high health care costs and affordability of health coverage are growing concerns. Read

How much can an older person be charged for health insurance?

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) established a 3-to-1 limit on age rating of health insurance premiums, meaning that older adults who purchase coverage on their own cannot be charged more than three times the amount a younger person is charged for the same health plan. Read

How many older people are uninsured under the ACA?

Did you know that over 3 million older adults ages 50-64 rely on Affordable Care Act (ACA) tax credits to purchase health coverage? In fact, pre-ACA, almost half of them were uninsured.

How much does Medicare pay for never events?

A second study concluded that “never events” add significantly to Medicare hospital payments, ranging from an average of an additional $700 per case to treat decubitus ulcers to $9,000 per case to treat postoperative sepsis.

What is never event in Medicare?

As part of its ongoing effort to pay for better care, not just more services and higher costs, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced that it is investigating ways that Medicare can help to reduce or eliminate the occurrence of “never events” – serious and costly errors in the provision of health care services that should never happen. “Never events,” like surgery on the wrong body part or mismatched blood transfusion, cause serious injury or death to beneficiaries, and result in increased costs to the Medicare program to treat the consequences of the error.

What is an environmental event?

Environmental Events. Patient death or serious disability associated with an electric shock while being cared for in a healthcare facility. Any incident in which a line designated for oxygen or other gas to be delivered to a patient contains the wrong gas or is contaminated by toxic substances.

What is the term for a patient who dies while being cared for in a healthcare facility?

Patient death or serious disability associated with hypoglycemia, the onset of which occurs while the patient is being cared for in a healthcare facility.

What is a patient death?

Patient death or serious disability associated with the use of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics provided by the healthcare facility. Patient death or serious disability associated with the use or function of a device in patient care in which the device is used or functions other than as intended.

How many NQF events are there in Minnesota?

The Minnesota law requires hospitals to report the NQF’s 27 “never events” to the Minnesota Hospital Association’s web-based Patient Safety Registry. The law requires hospitals to investigate each event, report its underlying cause, and take corrective action to prevent similar events.

How many deaths were reported in Minnesota in the first year?

During the first year of Minnesota ’s mandatory reporting program, 30 hospitals reported 99 events that resulted in 20 deaths and four serious disabilities. In the second year, 47 hospitals reported 106 events that resulted in 12 deaths and nine serious injuries. These included 53 surgical events, and 39 patient care management events.

image
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9