DHCS Issues Hospital Fee July-December 2019 Directed Payment Invoices
On July 23, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released Hospital Fee Program payment schedules associated with the Bridge Period Directed Payment (Phase 1).
On July 23, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) released Hospital Fee Program payment schedules associated with the Bridge Period Directed Payment (Phase 1).
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has announced in All Facilities Letter (AFL) 21-25 that it will require general acute care hospitals to report specified patient level discharge information for each hospitalized person who tests positive for COVID-19. The purpose of this is to enable CDPH to better understand breakthrough COVID-19 cases.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued the following updates this week:
The Health Services & Resources Administration (HRSA) will administer $98 million in grant awards to eligible rural health clinics (RHCs) through its RHC Vaccine Confidence Program.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its calendar year (CY) 2022 outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) proposed rule on July 19. CMS estimates that Medicare expenditures under OPPS will increase by $1.35 billion based on changes in the proposed rule. Comments on the rule are due by 2 p.m. (PT) on Sept. 17.
In case you missed it, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced on July 16 in All-Facilities Letter 20-26.9 that the statewide space waiver for hospitals, which was set to expire July 17, has been extended until Sept. 30.
A recent California Supreme Court decision on meal, rest, and recovery period violations could have major implications for many of the state’s employers — including hospitals.
Under current law, an employee who does not receive a meal, rest, or recovery period is owed “one additional hour of pay at the employee’s regular rate of compensation.” For many labor attorneys, this was interpreted to mean an additional hour of pay at the employee’s base pay rate — that is, the employee’s hourly pay rate, not including overtime compensation or bonuses. However, under a recent California Supreme Court decision, this is no longer permissible.
On July 15, the court ruled unanimously in Ferra v. Loews that the requirement of an additional hour of compensation at the employee’s “regular rate of compensation” has the same meaning as “regular rate of pay,” requiring the inclusion of overtime and bonuses with the employee’s base pay rate. As this ruling is retroactive, hospitals that compensate missed meal, rest, and recovery periods solely based on the employee’s base pay rate are out of compliance with the law and may face significant legal liability.
CHA encourages all hospitals to review their pay practices to ensure they are in full compliance with the law and to reach out to their California labor law counsel with any questions.
On July 21, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) announced that it will transition Blue Shield of California from its role as third-party administrator to an advisory role as needed.
This post has been archived and contains information that may be out of date.Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued its calendar year 2022 outpatient prospective payment system proposed rule. CHA is analyzing the regulation and will provide additional details in Thursday’s CHA News.