Last week, HHS announced the first round of 26 Health Care
Innovation Awards, CMS published the names of providers that have
demonstrated meaningful use of electronic health records, and New
Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed a bill to establish a health
insurance exchange in his state.
AT THE AGENCIES
CMS published the names of Medicare providers that have
demonstrated meaningful use of electronic health records and
received incentive payments as of March 2012.
On Tuesday (5/8), HHS announced the first round of 26 Health Care Innovation
Awards totaling $122.6 million. The next batch will be announced in
early June. The awards support innovative projects throughout the
country that are expected to save money, deliver high quality
medical care and enhance the health care workforce.
CMS is encouraging states to control Medicaid costs by
overhauling dual-eligible programs instead of cutting provider
pay.
ON THE HILL
On Thursday (5/10), the Senate Finance Committee convened a
group of former Medicare administrators to discuss the sustainable
growth rate formula. The group talked about setting the sustainable
growth rate close to the physicians' own practices and moving
away from a fee-for-service model.
IN THE STATES
On Thursday (5/10), New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill
from the majority Democratic state legislature that would have set
up a health insurance exchange in the state. Gov. Christie said
that if the Supreme Court upholds the Affordable Care Act, he would
reconsider.
Illinois currently pays more than $800 million each year for
retirees' health care, and 90 percent of those retirees pay
nothing toward their health-insurance premiums. The Illinois Senate
approved a measure that would end this taxpayer-subsidized
benefit.
THIS WEEK
On Tuesday (5/15) at 10:00 a.m., in the Capitol Visitors Center
Room SVC212-10, The National Coalition on Health Care held a forum
on innovative private sector strategies to curb health costs.
On Wednesday (5/16) at 10:00 a.m., the Senate Health, Education,
Labor and Pensions Committee will hold a hearing titled
"Identifying Opportunities for Health Care Delivery System
Reform: Lessons from the Front Line."
To view our compilation of recent health care reform
implementation news, clickhere.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General have recently published parallel proposed rules revising, respectively, the Stark exception and Anti-Kickback safe harbor concerning electronic health record items and services.
CMS wants to change the way that it rewards non-qui tam whistleblowers who report alleged fraudulent or unlawful conduct related to Medicare or Medicaid.
Marilyn Tavenner received bipartisan support from members of the Senate Committee on Finance in her confirmation hearing to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) though a full Senate vote is being held up, the president released his FY 2014 budget proposal with health care reform and specified reimbursement reductions to providers and manufacturers totaling $400 billion over 10 years sprinkled throughout it, and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sebelius
Understanding the complexities of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules is often a challenge for health care providers and consumers.
The news from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) about the revocation of the electronic health record (EHR) certifications of two EHR products that had previously been certified will have tremendous ramifications not only on the EHR vendor losing its certifications, but generally on providers and vendors as well.
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