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With tens of thousands of gun deaths per year nationwide, it often feels like it’s just a matter of time before the wheel of tragedy stops close to home.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its proposed rule updating payments to hospice facilities for fiscal year (FY) 2022. Comments on the proposed rule are due by 2 p.m. (PT) on June 7.
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Today, President Biden signed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 stimulus package that will bring much-needed relief to a wide swath of the country including: an extension of jobless supplement programs, direct $1,400 payments to most Americans, an expansion of the child tax credit, support for restaurants, rental assistance, support for schools, and billions of dollars to state and local governments.
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On Aug. 12, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the emergency use authorization (EUA) for both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA COVID-19 vaccines to allow for the use of an additional dose in certain immunocompromised individuals ages 12 and older. Following that announcement, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a recommendation that “people whose immune systems are compromised moderately to severely should receive an additional dose of mRNA vaccine after the initial 2 doses.”
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Earlier this week, nearly 50 of California’s hospital and health system leaders trekked almost 3,000 miles to Washington, D.C. Their purpose: to share with members of Congress the legislative changes they need to successfully meet their mission of care back home.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regularly provides important updates about post-acute care quality reporting programs (QRPs), including training opportunities, public reporting, and reminders of data submission and review deadlines.
Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities
QRP training
CMS will host two webinars for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) on proper coding of Section M Skin Conditions (Pressure Ulcer/Injury) and Section N of the IRF Patient Assessment Instrument Version 2.00. Updated reporting requirements for Sections M and N became effective on Oct. 1 for IRF providers. See the IRF Quality Reporting Training web page for details.
Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals
Provider preview reports
CMS has informed long-term acute care hospitals (LTCHs) that previous provider preview reports for the Discharge to Community – PAC measure contained an error. Preview data released in June 2018 incorporated only seven of eight required quarters of data. Data from October through December 2016 were inadvertently omitted.
CMS has reissued the LTCH provider preview reports, and corrected reports are now available via CASPER system folders. LTCH providers have until Aug. 31 to preview the corrected data in advance of public reporting for the September 2018 LTCH Compare Refresh.
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With the legislative year coming to an end in Sacramento last week, and important signing decisions yet to be made by the Governor, our advocacy in Washington, D.C., is heating up.
Congress returned Sept. 9 facing a full legislative agenda. Because neither party wants another government shutdown, the House of Representatives passed a measure to keep funding flowing through Nov. 21. The Senate is expected to consider that legislation in the next few days.
There’s also a full slate of health care issues up for debate in the coming months, so it was important that we took the opportunity last week, alongside nearly two dozen of California’s hospital CEOs, and with our partners at the American Hospital Association, to spend time with members of the California congressional delegation to discuss the issues most important to your hospitals and your patients.
As we made the rounds on Capitol Hill, some common themes emerged:
• Surprise billing: This issue is top of mind for Congress. Over the summer, one House committee reported legislation, the No Surprises Act; two others are expected to craft additional bills, and we could see a House floor vote sometime this fall. This week, the issue took on a new depth when the House announced an investigation into private equity firms that own physician-staffing companies, and whether they use out-of-network billing as an intentional strategy. In the meantime, we’ll keep reinforcing our message that hospitals support taking patients out of the middle when it comes to out-of-network bills, but we stand firmly against rate setting as part of the solution.
• Eliminating payment cuts to Medicaid disproportionate share hospitals (DSH): Set to take effect Oct. 1, cuts to Medicaid DSH hospitals will be unsustainable for many hospitals and could sever the safety net for your most vulnerable patients. We’re fighting hard on this one, urging that the cuts be eliminated or – at a minimum – delayed. The good news is that we have strong support in Congress, and a delay in the cuts for the first quarter of the 2020 fiscal year is part of the current House bill to temporarily fund the government. It’s good to be part of “must-pass” legislation, and we’ll keep pressing to get this done.
• Drug pricing: Reducing consumer drug prices remains a high priority for both Congress and the president. As we monitor those evolving efforts, we’re engaged in discussions with California congressional leaders to fully understand the various forms any pending legislation might take, as well as any impact on patients and hospitals.
As we continue to fight for policies that help you care for your patients and communities, last week’s meetings in the nation’s capital make clear that our greatest strength is in our unity, and when you lend your personal voice to the conversation, our message resonates. Thanks to all of our AHA regional policy board representatives who traveled to set the stage for our senators and representatives as they prepare to make decisions that will affect all of your hospitals.
— Carmela
What’s happening: CHA and the California Society of Health-System Pharmacists (CSHP) are calling on pharmacy professionals to join the movement for substantive change in pharmacy practice through their partnership with the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists’ (ASHP) Practice Advancement Initiative (PAI) — and joining the movement begins with taking the California Hospital Survey.
What else to know: Originally launched in 2010, PAI has helped pharmacists across diverse practice settings implement local changes to improve patient care — and ASHP is bolstering these efforts by launching PAI 2030. In PAI 2030, ASHP has introduced 59 updated recommendations aimed at enhancing medication use, expanding the roles of pharmacists and technicians, and embracing emerging technologies.
To assist hospitals, CHA — in partnership with Pacific Gas & Electric, San Diego Gas & Electric, and Southern California Edison — has prepared this on-demand recording that explains more about the medical baseline programs and details the support and resources available from the utility companies.
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The American Hospital Association (AHA) updated members on Aug. 11 that Kaiser Health News has begun contacting some hospitals and health systems as part of a survey on financial assistance and billing and collections policies. The project is being produced in partnership with NPR and will be featured online and on radio later this year, with surveyed hospitals being identified by name.