The Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office’s Integrated Resource Center (ICRC) of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently released an issue brief addressing the challenges of access to durable medical equipment (DME) for dually … [Read more...] about CMS Releases Issue Brief on Access Challenges of DME for Duals
Weekly Alert
Medicare Home Health Rules Proposed by CMS to “Improve Access to Solutions” Will Further Reduce Patient Access to Care
The announcement on July 2, 2018, that CMS seeks to “modernize” Medicare home health care is filled with patient-oriented rhetoric, but will actually further gut the Medicare home health benefit – which is already being implemented … [Read more...] about Medicare Home Health Rules Proposed by CMS to “Improve Access to Solutions” Will Further Reduce Patient Access to Care
Health Care Sabotage: Impact of Sabotage on the Exchanges
This week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released their reports on the performance of the exchanges and individual health insurance market. These reports include the Early 2018 Effectuated Enrollment Snapshot, Exchange Trends … [Read more...] about Health Care Sabotage: Impact of Sabotage on the Exchanges
Did CMS’s Partnership to Improve Dementia Care Reduce the Inappropriate Prescribing of Antipsychotic Drugs for Nursing Home Residents as Much as CMS Claims? Two Recent Studies Say No
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has ended its campaign to reduce the inappropriate use of antipsychotic drugs for long-stay residents in nursing facilities (formally called the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in … [Read more...] about Did CMS’s Partnership to Improve Dementia Care Reduce the Inappropriate Prescribing of Antipsychotic Drugs for Nursing Home Residents as Much as CMS Claims? Two Recent Studies Say No
Center for Medicare Advocacy Discusses Nursing Home Resident Protections with CMS Administrator Seema Verma
Seema Verma, the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), invited the Center for Medicare Advocacy and other advocacy organizations to meet with her on June 25, 2018. The Administrator asked our organizations to … [Read more...] about Center for Medicare Advocacy Discusses Nursing Home Resident Protections with CMS Administrator Seema Verma
Health Care Sabotage: Another Attempt at ACA Repeal
Last week, the Health Policy Consensus Group released a plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It is reported that this group, led by longtime ACA critic, former Senator Rick Santorum, has been working with Senate Republicans and the White … [Read more...] about Health Care Sabotage: Another Attempt at ACA Repeal
Tipping the Scales Toward Medicare Advantage (at the Expense of Medicare)
Ranking Committee Members Echo Advocates’ Complaints to CMS about Draft 2019 Medicare & YouAs discussed in a previous CMA Alert, the Center for Medicare Advocacy, Justice in Aging and the Medicare Rights Center recently sent a letter to … [Read more...] about Tipping the Scales Toward Medicare Advantage (at the Expense of Medicare)
Does Observation Status Undercut Claims that Hospital Readmissions Have Been Reduced? MedPAC Says No, Research Says Yes.
As required by the Affordable Care Act, the Medicare Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) reduces Medicare payment rates, by up to 3%, to hospitals that readmit patients with certain specified conditions within 30 days.[1] The … [Read more...] about Does Observation Status Undercut Claims that Hospital Readmissions Have Been Reduced? MedPAC Says No, Research Says Yes.
World Elder Abuse Awareness Day at the UN
The Center for Medicare Advocacy was pleased to have participated in the World Elder Abuse Awareness Day observance at the United Nations (UN) in New York. The theme for this year’s observance was “Moving from Awareness to Action through … [Read more...] about World Elder Abuse Awareness Day at the UN
Home Health Pre-Claim Review Demonstration Model, Take Two
In April 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) abandoned a multi-state Medicare Pre-Claim Review Demonstration Model that had so many flaws it never made it out of the initial implementation state, Illinois. The latest proposed … [Read more...] about Home Health Pre-Claim Review Demonstration Model, Take Two