She’s seventyish, grandmotherly and unassuming. She sits patiently in the waiting area of your hospital or medical office, knitting to while away the time. She couldn’t be any less threatening, right? Wrong. She could be part of yet another weapon in the CMS arsenal: the Senior Medicare Patrol. The …
CMS JOINS IN BASHING THE TWO-MIDNIGHT RULE
May 21, 2014 Leave a Comment
It’s unanimous. Everybody hates the two-midnight rule—even CMS. Hospitals hate it. Doctors hate it. Congress hates it so much it required CMS to delay audits of compliance until next year. Then yesterday CMS Deputy Administrator Sean Cavanaugh, testifying before a House Committee panel, acknowledged …
CMS ALLOWS SINGLE, SYSTEM-WIDE MEDICAL STAFF
May 12, 2014 Leave a Comment
In a departure from its long-standing position, CMS last week announced that it would permit a multi-hospital system to maintain a single, system-wide medical staff. The announcement represents a clear departure from CMS’s long-standing position that each hospital within a system must have its own medical …
CMS PROPOSES HIKE IN HOSPICE PAYMENTS, SEEKS INPUT ON DEFINITIONS
May 5, 2014 Leave a Comment
In an announcement scheduled for Federal Register publication on May 8, CMS proposes a 1.3% increase in hospice payments for fiscal year 2015. The increase, which would amount to $230 compared to fiscal year 2014, may not look like a lot, but any increase is meaningful at a time when CMS is working hard to lower …
MEDICARE PANEL VOTES AGAINST ANNUAL CT SCANS FOR HEAVY SMOKERS
May 1, 2014 Leave a Comment
Yesterday a Medicare panel surprised many in the medical community by recommending against Medicare coverage of annual CT scans for current or former heavy smokers. The nonbinding recommendation was issued by CMS’s nine-member Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee. The vote comes …
CMS Holds Webinar Explaining Open Payments Phase I
February 28, 2014 Leave a Comment
Yesterday, February 25th, CMS hosted a webinar titled, “Open Payments Phase 1 of 2 - Overview of Industry Data Registration & Data Submission.” As the name implies, it discussed the various aspects of the Phase I, which requires applicable manufacturers to submit aggregate data on transfers of value to …