Red Tape Relief Report
The House Committee on Ways and Means released a report this week on their Red Tape Relief project, which was created to “modernize and improve the Medicare program for American seniors and the providers that serve them.” The report comes a year after AAHKS submitted recommendations on improving alternative payment models, eliminating unnecessary face-to-face requirements for patients and practitioners, repealing of the three-day inpatient requirement for SNF coverage and encouraging engaging stakeholders to modernize the Stark Law. Read the report for more on the work the project has done and will continue to do in 2019.
CMS Proposed Rule Summaries
AAHKS has released summaries of the CMS CY 2019 Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and the CMS CY 2019 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule prepared by our advocacy partner, Epstein Becker & Green. AAHKS will be submitting comments on both proposed rules to CMS and will share those once completed.
Value-based Payment Models and Health IT
The Congressional Health Innovation Caucus, a “bipartisan caucus to examine innovative policy ideas that improve the quality of care and lower costs for consumers,” recently sent out a request for information (RFI) to help them build the caucus. The RFI sought input on value-based provider payment models, arrangements and technology related to health IT. AAHKS provided input to the caucus on BPCI, BPCI-A, CJR and the importance of physician leadership in the success of bundled care models, as well as standardized care management and clinical pathways providing successful framework for total episodes of care.