Legislative Activity

This Week’s Hearings:

  • Tuesday, May 6: The House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health will host a roundtable with industry thought leaders on “21st Century Cures.”
  • Wednesday, May 7: The House Committee on Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations has scheduled a hearing titled “PPACA Enrollment and the Insurance Industry.”
  • Thursday, May 8: The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations has scheduled a hearing titled “Mixed Signals: The Administration’s Policy on Marijuana, Part Three.” The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will hold a hearing on the nomination of the Secretary of Health and Human Services Designate Sylvia Mathews Burwell.

Regulatory Activity

FY 2015 Hospice Wage Index; Appeals for Part D Payment Rule

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Medicare Program; FY 2015 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update; Hospice Quality Reporting Requirements and Process and Appeals for Part D Payment for Drugs for Beneficiaries Enrolled in Hospice Proposed Rule. The proposed rule would update the hospice payment rates and the wage index for fiscal year (FY) 2015 and continue the phase out of the wage index budget neutrality adjustment factor (BNAF). This rule provides an update on hospice payment reform analyses and solicits comments on “terminal illness” and “related conditions” definitions, and on a process and appeals for Part D payment for drugs, while beneficiaries are under a hospice election. Also, the rule proposes timeframes for filing the notice of election and the notice of termination/revocation; adding the attending physician to the hospice election form; a requirement that hospices complete their hospice inpatient and aggregate cap determinations within 5 months after the cap year ends, and remit any overpayments; and updates for the hospice quality reporting program. In addition, the rule would provide guidance on determining hospice eligibility, information on the delay in the implementation of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), and would further clarify how hospices are to report diagnoses on hospice claims. Finally, the rule proposes to make a technical regulatory text change.

IRF Proposed Rule

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System for FY 2015 Proposed Rule. This proposed rule would “update the prospective payment rates for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) for federal fiscal year (FY) 2015 (for discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2014 and on or before September 30, 2015) as required by the statute. CMS is also proposing to collect data on the amount and mode (that is, Individual, Group, and Co-Treatment) of therapy provided in the IRF setting according to therapy discipline, revise the list of impairment group codes that presumptively meet the “60 percent rule” compliance criteria, provide for a new item on the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility-Patient Assessment Instrument  (IRF-PAI) form to indicate whether the prior treatment and severity requirements have been met for arthritis cases to presumptively meet the “60 percent rule” compliance criteria, and revise and update quality measures and reporting requirements under the IRF quality reporting program (QRP). In this proposed rule, CMS also addresses the implementation of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM), for the IRF prospective payment system (PPS), effective when ICD-10-CM becomes the required medical data code set for use on Medicare claims and IRF-PAI submissions.”

Hospital IPPS, LTCH PPS, EHR Incentive Program Proposed Rule

CMS released the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Proposed Fiscal Year 2015 Rates; Quality Reporting Requirements for Specific Providers; Reasonable Compensation Equivalents for Physician Services in Excluded Teaching Hospitals; Provider Administrative Appeals and Judicial Review; Enforcement Provisions for Organ Transplant Centers; and Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program Proposed Rule. CMS is proposing to revise the Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment systems (IPPS) for operating and capital-related costs of acute care hospitals to implement changes arising from our continuing experience with these systems. Some of the proposed changes implement certain statutory provisions contained in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (collectively known as the Affordable Care Act), the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014, and other legislation. These proposed changes would be applicable to discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2014, unless otherwise specified in this proposed rule. CMS is also proposing to update the rate-of-increase limits for certain hospitals excluded from the IPPS that are paid on a reasonable cost basis subject to these limits. The proposed updated rate-of-increase limits would be effective for cost reporting periods beginning on or after October 1, 2014. CMS is also proposing to update the payment policies and the annual payment rates for the Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) for inpatient hospital services provided by long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) and to implement certain statutory changes to the LTCH PPS under the Affordable Care Act and the Pathway for Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) Reform Act of 2013 and the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014. In addition CMS is proposing to revise the interruption of stay policy for LTCHs and to retire the “5 percent” payment adjustment for co-located LTCHs. While many of the statutory mandates of the Pathway for SGR Reform Act will apply to discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2014, others will not begin to apply until 2016 and beyond. However, in light of the degree of forthcoming change, CMS discusses changes infra and request public feedback to inform our proposals for FY 2016 in this proposed rule as well.