Many of us have been waiting to hear the final word about what’s next from CMS for the Next Generation ACO Model. On May 21, 2021, CMS’s Innovation Center (“CMMI”) confirmed that the Next Generation ACO Model would not be extended and will conclude at the end of this year as planned. The Next Generation ACO Model has been the most advanced value-based contracting model offered by CMS with participating risk-bearing entities taking between 80%-100% upside and downside risk. However, according to reports, the model didn’t achieve sufficient savings to justify making it a permanent CMMI program.
Continue Reading CMS to Discontinue Next Generation ACO Model as Expected but Allows Program Participants to Apply For Direct Contracting
Reimbursement
The University of Miami to Pay $22 Million to Settle Medicare False Claims Act Allegations
The U.S. Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) recently settled whistleblower False Claims Act (“FCA”) allegations against The University of Miami (“UMiami”) for $22 million, which resolves claims from three separate lawsuits related to billing practices at UMiami’s off-campus hospital-based facilities (“Off-Campus Hospital Facilities”) and fraudulent claims for laboratory services.…
Continue Reading The University of Miami to Pay $22 Million to Settle Medicare False Claims Act Allegations
Hold the Phone: Audio-Only Telehealth Expanding in New York and other States, but National Policies May Lag
Posted in COVID-19, Legislation, Payors, Providers, Regulatory Compliance, Reimbursement, Telehealth
The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a wave of telehealth policy changes across the nation at both federal and state levels. Such changes have expanded access to health care and addressed underutilization in chronic disease management while minimizing the risk of exposure for individuals seeking care. One such policy change in particular has received widespread attention and support from industry stakeholders and lawmakers alike: expansion of telehealth to include audio-only telephonic communications. However, the longevity of telehealth’s expansion to audio-only services remains uncertain as states and the federal government each pursue revisions to pandemic-era policies and flexibilities.…
Continue Reading Hold the Phone: Audio-Only Telehealth Expanding in New York and other States, but National Policies May Lag
The COVID-19 Provider Funding Tap Begins to Run Dry: The American Rescue Plan Offers Minimal Financial Relief to Non-Rural Providers and Hospitals
The latest COVID-19 stimulus bill, the American Rescue Plan of 2021 (the “Act”), enacted on March 11, 2021, provides $1.9 trillion in funding for various COVID-19 relief measures. However, while the Act includes many funding provisions, including those funding direct assistance to lower-income individuals and families, expanding “Obamacare” insurance subsidies and availability, increasing federal medical assistance percentage (“FMAP”) rates for Medicaid programs under certain circumstances, supporting public health workforce development, funding technical assistance to skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”), and bolstering COVID-19 vaccine and testing efforts, it also has a few provisions that create new or directly augment existing financial supports available to providers and hospitals that have sustained losses during the pandemic.…
Continue Reading The COVID-19 Provider Funding Tap Begins to Run Dry: The American Rescue Plan Offers Minimal Financial Relief to Non-Rural Providers and Hospitals