Hospitals warrant an extra boost in their Medicare payment rate next year, MedPAC says
Hospitals will get a more favorable Medicare payment increase in FY25 if Congress follows the recommendations of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). In its semiannual report to Congress, MedPAC recommended a 1.5% bump on top of what otherwise would be provided according to statute. That would mean an estimated increase of about 4.5% for…
Navigating healthcare’s cyber crisis: HFMA’s lifeline through the Change Healthcare cyberattack
Regularly scheduled national member calls by HFMA’s Change Healthcare Business Continuity Workgroup and frequent news updates about the continuing impact of the cyberattack on hospitals and health system by senior editor Nick Hut became a lifeline for many HFMA members through mid-March. Regular news updates Hut kept members apprised of developments starting on Feb. 25…
Healthcare Blame Game: Patient Rights Advocate claims its report gets ‘independent review and validation’ – but does it?
Headline: The Sixth Annual Hospital Price Transparency Compliance ReportSource: Patient Rights AdvocatePublished: February 2024 PatientRightsAdvocate.org recently issued its sixth report scoring hospital compliance with federal price transparency regulations, and for the sixth time, its assessment conflicts with CMS’s assessment. I want to focus on a nugget we picked up on in the methodology section of the latest report,…
Responses to a new RFI will help guide regulations addressing consolidation and private equity in healthcare
The Biden administration is ramping up its assessment of how to regulate consolidation and private equity (PE) acquisitions in healthcare, issuing a request for information (RFI) from stakeholders. There is a deadline of May 6 to submit comments on the RFI, which was distributed by HHS, the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade…
Healthcare Financial Management Association calls Patient Rights Advocate’s latest price transparency compliance report ‘irresponsible’
CHICAGO (March 7, 2024) – Long an advocate for consumerism and price transparency in healthcare, the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) today called the latest report from Patient Rights Advocate (PRA) “irresponsible” and “incorrect.” HFMA has maintained that to be effective, price transparency must offer clear information that is readily accessible to patients to enable them to…
Federal funding legislation would address Medicaid DSH cuts, physician payments and more
March 8 update The Senate passed the appropriations bill by a 75-22 vote, getting it to the White House for President Joe Biden to sign hours before funding for some federal departments would have expired and a big cut to Medicaid disproportionate share hospital payments would have begun. Attention now turns to HHS and other…
Cyberattack on Change Healthcare brings turmoil to healthcare operations nationwide
This blog presents HFMA’s running coverage of the Change Healthcare cyberattack and its impact on providers and the healthcare industry. July 29 updates A recent HFMA news article examined both UnitedHealth Group’s latest quarterly financial report and lingering issues for providers amid the ongoing cyberattack recovery. Receiving electronic remittance advice files remains a problem with…
New rule on Medicaid DSH payments will impose stricter limits on many hospitals
Numerous hospitals that receive Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) payments face a tighter cap on their payment amounts after the Feb. 23 publication of a CMS final rule. The regulations were spawned by 2020 year-end legislation that made changes to the DSH hospital-specific limit (HSL), including with respect to how third-party payments factor into the…
New data shows providers continuing to win most No Surprises Act independent dispute resolution cases
Providers won a large majority of disputes initiated during the first half of 2023 through the No Surprises Act’s arbitration portal for adjudicating out-of-network payments, according to newly published data. HHS and the U.S. Departments of Labor and Treasury released public-use files (available to download here under “2023 Reporting Year”) showing the outcome of every…
Site-neutral payment has backing in healthcare policy circles, but its efficacy as a cost restraint is unclear
The concept of site-neutral payment continues to receive support from members of Congress and healthcare policy analysts, as demonstrated during a recent hearing. The Jan. 31 hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee was intended, in part, to promote pending legislation that would strengthen price transparency and implement other policies designed to…