CHA News

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its calendar year (CY) 2021 physician fee schedule (PFS) proposed rule. In addition to addressing annual payment updates for Medicare Part B clinicians and changes to the quality payment program, CMS includes several proposals to make certain COVID-19 telehealth and scope of practice flexibilities permanent, and delays clinical laboratory reporting requirements – including for hospital outreach laboratories – until 2022.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its calendar year (CY) 2021 outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) proposed rule. In addition to annual payment and quality updates, CMS proposes significant cuts for drugs purchased under the 340B drug savings program, would eliminate the inpatient-only (IPO) list over three years, expand the list of outpatient services subject to prior authorization, and make significant changes to the hospital star ratings methodology.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its federal fiscal year (FFY) 2021 inpatient psychiatric facility (IPF) prospective payment system (PPS) final rule. CMS finalized an overall payment increase of 2.3% — approximately $95 million — for IPFs, compared to FFY 2020.

On July 31, CHA sent a letter to Rep. Mike Thompson (D-St. Helena), voicing support for the Protecting Access to Post-COVID–19 Telehealth Act of 2020 (H.R. 7663). The bill would remove long-standing barriers to telehealth services and improve access to care for not just Californians but patients across the country.

This week, the Hospital Quality Institute (HQI) issued a news release on the California Hospital Patient Safety Organization’s (CHPSO) name change, which was made to better reflect the organization’s work and membership. The new name is Collaborative Healthcare Patient Safety Organization. 

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved an amendment to California’s section 1115 demonstration, titled “Medi-Cal 2020,” which will allow California to continue to operate the Global Payment Program for a six-month period to align with the expiration of the demonstration on Dec. 31, 2020. This is the first of two important requests, where California’s Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is asking CMS to extend the Medi-Cal 2020 waiver set to expire later this year. 

On July 28, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released an updated interim vaccine information statement for the hepatitis A vaccine. Federal law requires that health care providers give the relevant vaccine information statement to each patient (or parent/legal representative) who is vaccinated.