CMS Issues ACO Final Rule0

CMS Issues ACO Final Rule

Last week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued its proposed final rule for Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (“MSSP”), a program designed to promote accountability for a patient population, foster coordination of items and services under Medicare Parts A and B, and encourage investment in infrastructure and redesigned care processes for high quality and efficient health care service delivery. CMS issued its proposed rule on December 8, 2014, expanding the original rule from November 2011 (76 Federal Register 67802).

The final rule focuses on the following areas:

  1. Data-sharing requirements;
  2. Eligibility relating to ACO participants, providers and suppliers;
  3. Application updates;
  4. ACO legal structure and beneficiary requirements;
  5. Assignment methodology;
  6. Methodology for determining financial performance; and
  7. Program integrity and transparency concerns

The final rule also addresses some of the 275 comments CMS received in response to the December 2014 proposed rule. In response to concerns about the program’s integrity, CMS commented as follows:

“In 2011, Medicare made almost no payments to providers through alternative payment models, but today such payments represent approximately 20 percent of Medicare payments. Earlier this year, the Secretary announced the ambitious goal of tying 30% of Medicare fee for service payments to quality and value by 2016 and by 2018 making 50% of payments through alternative payment models, such as the [MSSP]. . . . With over 400 ACOs serving over 7 million beneficiaries, the [MSSP] plays an important role in meeting the Secretary’s recently articulated goal.”

 

CMS Final Regulations for Accrediting Organizations0

The following e-Bulletin was published by the California State Bar, Business Law Section, on May 21, 2015.

CMS issued its proposed final regulations for accrediting organizations, revising the survey, certification and enforcement procedures relating to CMS oversight of entities such as the Joint Commission and the Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program. These revisions implement provisions under the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA), as well as clarify CMS’ oversight of these accrediting organizations.

In general, providers and suppliers of health care services must be substantially in compliance with certain statutory requirements before participating in the Medicare program. These obligations are known as “conditions of participation” (CoPs) for hospitals and most providers, “requirements” for skilled nursing facilities, and “conditions for coverage” (CfCs) for ambulatory surgical centers. Failure to meet the standards set forth by CMS may compromise a provider’s ability to participate in the Medicare Program.

Following the April 5, 2013 proposed regulations, the final regulations accomplish, in part, the following:

  1. Confirm CMS’ standards to the MIPPA revisions.
  2. Clarify and reorganize existing regulations, eliminate potentially confusing and unnecessary duplication.
  3. Strengthen CMS’s ability to oversee the 21 CMS-approved accrediting organizations.

The text of these final regulations can be found here.

 

2016 Hospital IPPS For Acute Care Hospitals0

2016 Hospital IPPS For Acute Care Hospitals

iStock_000023989921LargeThis e-bulletin from the Health Law Committee of the Business Law Section for the State Bar of California, published on April 20, 2015, summarizes recent proposed regulations by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) for the Fiscal Year (“FY”) 2016 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems (“IPPS”) for Acute Care Hospitals.

Every spring CMS issues its proposed regulations to modify the inpatient prospective payment systems for acute care hospitals, as well as other facilities. Sometime in August CMS issues its final regulations in anticipation of the new fiscal year starting October 1. This year like all others, the 1,526 pages of regulatory guidance (reduced to approximately 800 triple-columned-pages in the Federal Register on April 30, 2015) provide hospitals with the most important revenue information for the year, especially as these institutions try to navigate through the current climate of health care reform.

The proposed regulations cover the gamut of Medicare reimbursement concerns, including the types of hospitals that must adhere to the 2016 changes as well as what’s new with the already established Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (“VBP”) Program, the Hospital-Acquired Condition (“HAC”) Program, the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (“HRRP”) and disproportionate share hospital payments. One new additions to CMS’ annual encyclopedia of regulatory modifications includes a recoupment adjustment to account for changes in Medicare-severity diagnosis-related group (“MS-DRG”) documentation and coding that do not reflect real changes in case-mixing, totaling $11 billion over the next four years.

As the Medicare program continues to swell in ranks and hospitals become more dependent on revenue therefrom, just about any of the 382,000 words in the proposed regulations may hold the key to unlocking the mystery behind Medicare in 2016. For more information, the proposed regulation can be found here.

Physician-Owned Hospital Self-Disclosures0

The following Health Law E-Bulletin was published by the Business Law Section of the California State Bar on March 27, 2015.

The following summarizes recent instructions from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) for disclosures of noncompliance arising solely from a violation of 42 C.F.R. § 411.362(b)(3)(ii)(C) (physician-owned hospitals: website and advertising disclosures).

As part of the Affordable Care Act, Section 6001, physician-owned hospitals and rural providers must disclose on any public website for the hospital, and in any public advertising, that the hospital is owned or has physician investors. See 42 C.F.R. § 362(b)(3)(ii)(C). CMS has determined that for providers to comply with the requirements in section IV.B of the CMS Voluntary Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (OMB Control No.: 0938-1106), physician-owned hospitals disclosing non-compliance with this very specific part of the regulation need only provide the following information:

  • Name and address of hospital
  • Hospital’s CMS Certification Number(s) (CCN), national provider identification number(s) (NPI), and tax identification number(s) (TIN)
  • Hospital’s contact person/representative for the disclosure
  • Names and NPI numbers of all physicians who were owners/investors during the period(s) of noncompliance identified below.
  • Period(s) of noncompliance: For the period beginning on September 23, 2011, identify the months during which the hospital had at least one noncompliance. The hospital can provide a date range to satisfy this requirement.
  • Provide the requested certifications

The complete instructions appear online here. Other disclosures, including those that include website and advertising concerns, must follow the Voluntary Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol.

CMS Quality Measures0

iStock_000016711099Small-300x225This Health Law e-Bulletin, published on March 20, 2015, summarizes the 2015 National Impact Assessment of CMS Quality Measures Report (the “2015 Impact Report”) (as mandated by section 3014(b), as amended by section 10304, of the Affordable Care Act (the “ACA”)).

What if one day the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) changed the ways in which the Federal Government taxed individuals? For example, rather than assessing tax liability on the basis of income, what if the IRS assessed taxes on the basis of an individual’s contribution to society, or on his or her general demeanor or overall perception as “good” or “bad”? Under the ACA, Medicare has started to transform in such an historical manner, reimbursing hospitals now (and physicians soon) on the basis of performance, efficiency, and patient satisfaction, gradually replacing the previous system that structured reimbursement on the costs involved in the delivery of health care. The 2015 Impact Report represents the second assessment by CMS since the ACA became the law in 2010, this time focusing on 25 CMS reporting programs and nearly 700 quality measures (using data from 2006 to 2013).

The ACA mandated a push toward high-quality, evidence-based care for patients, with top priorities including (1) making care safer, (2) ensuring that each person and family are engaged, (3) promoting effective communication and coordination of care, (4) promoting the most effective prevention and treatment practices, (5) working with communities to promote wide use of best practices to enable healthy living and (6) making quality care affordable. The 2015 Impact Report provides a 262-page scorecard for those who may be interested in the ACA’s success during its first few years.

CMS is committed to quality measurement as it transforms the very nature of modern American health care. The 2015 Impact Report illustrates how providers, private payers, and communities can work together to achieve the greatest impact on quality. As stated in the 2015 Impact Report: “Everyone receiving healthcare in the nation is likely to benefit from CMS programs and initiatives, as healthcare professionals engage in delivery system reform to achieve better care for patients, better health for the U.S. population and lower costs through quality improvement.” The complete 2015 Impact Report can be found here.

OIG Report on Medicare and CAHs0

The following E-Bulletin discussing a recent OIG Report on Medicare and CAHs was published on March 18, 2015, by the State Bar of California, Business Law Section’s Health Law Committee.

iStock_000009499779SmallThe following summarizes a recent report by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) that found Medicare could have saved billions over a 6-year period at Critical Access Hospitals if swing-bed services were reimbursed using the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system rate.

To ensure that beneficiaries in rural areas have access to a range of hospital services, Congress established the Rural Flexibility Program, which created Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). CAHs have broad latitude in the types of inpatient and outpatient services they provide, including “swing-bed” services, which are the equivalent of services performed at a skilled nursing facility (SNF). Medicare reimburses CAHs at 101 percent of their reasonable costs for providing services to beneficiaries rather than at rates set by Medicare’s prospective payment system (PPS) or Medicare’s fee schedules.

For a hospital to be designated as a CAH, it must meet certain Conditions of Participation (CoPs). Some of these CoP requirements include: (1) being located in a rural area; (2) either being at a certain distance from other hospitals or being grandfathered as a State-designated necessary provider; (3) having 25 or fewer beds used for inpatient care or swing-bed services; and (4) having an annual average length of stay for a patient that does not exceed 96 hours.Read more →

Cadillac Tax Coming Soon0

This E-Bulletin was first published by the Business Law Section of the California State Bar on March 2, 2015.

iStock_000004290636LargeAdded to the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) by the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”), Section 4980I begins after December 17, 2017, and the new regulation imposes a 40 percent excise tax (the “Cadillac Tax”) on employer-sponsored coverage that has an aggregate cost in excess of a statutory dollar limit (revised annually). The excise tax applies to “the excess, if any, of the aggregate cost of the applicable coverage of the employee for the month over the applicable dollars limit for the employee for the month.” Under Section 4980I(d)(3), the term “employee” includes “a former employee, surviving spouse, or other primary insured individual.” The 2018-baseline dollar limit per-employee in 2018 for self-only coverage is $10,200 and for other-than-self-only coverage is $27,500. [§ 4980I(b)(3)(C)]

Other adjustments to increase the applicable dollar limits include a “health cost adjustment percentage,” such as cost-of-living adjustment, agent and gender adjustments, if applicable, an adjustment for a “qualified retiree” or for someone “who participates in a plan sponsored by an employer the majority of whose employees covered by the plan are engaged in a high-risk profession or employed to repair or install electrical or telecommunication lines.” The entity obligated to pay the excise tax includes (1) the “health insurance issuer” under an insured plan, (2) “the employer” if the applicable coverage “consists of coverage under which the employer makes contributions to” an HAS or Archer MSA, and (3) “the person that administers the plan” in the case of any other applicable coverage. In each instance, the employer must prepare the calculations for the excise tax and notify the responsible entity.

Pursuant to Section 4980I(f)(10), the excise tax is not deductible for federal tax purposes. Certain types of coverage excluded from applicable coverage include accident or disability income insurance, liability insurance (such as automobile liability insurance), worker’ compensation insurance, dental and vision insurance (if provided under a separate policy) and credit-only insurance, among others.

The IRS has invited comments on the issues no later than May 15, 2015. Additional information can be found here.

Updates for Individuals and Families from the IRS0

Updates for Individuals and Families from the Internal Revenue Service

This e-Bulletin from the Health Law Committee of the Business Law Section for the California State Bar regarding updates for individuals and families from the IRS was published on January 27, 2015.

Tax Form with StethoscopeThe Affordable Care Act’s impact on tax provisions in 2014 was significant, especially relating to individuals and families. IRS Publication 5187 provides an overview, explaining how taxpayers satisfy the individual shared responsibility provision by enrolling in minimum essential coverage, qualifying for an exemption, making a shared responsibility payment, and the new premium tax credit. The IRS also has a useful chart showing the ways in which health insurance qualifies as minimum essential coverage.

The IRS also published new forms for 2014, including Health Coverage Exemptions (Form 8965), Premium Tax Credit (Form 8962), and Health Insurance Marketplace Statement (Form 1095-A).

The IRS also issued Revenue Procedure 2015-15 which provides the 2015 monthly national average premium for qualified health plans that have a bronze level of coverage for taxpayers to use in determining their maximum individual shared responsibility payment under Section 5000A(c)(1)(B) of the Internal Revenue Code. Effective January 1, 2015, the maximum monthly national average premium for qualified health plans that have a bronze level of coverage and are offered through the Health Insurance Exchanges is $1,035 for a shared responsibility family with five or more members.

Finally, true to the Affordable Care Act’s commitment to transparency as it relates to health insurance benefits and coverage, on December 30, 2014, the Departments of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services released the Summary of Benefits and Coverage and Uniform Glossary (79 Federal Register 78578).

Revisions to Certain Patient’s Rights, Conditions of Participation and Conditions of Coverage0

iStock_000017988429SmallThis State Bar of California Health Law E-Bulletin was published on December 16, 2014.

Medicare and Medicaid Program; Revisions to Certain Patient’s Rights Conditions of Participation and Conditions of Coverage

Last year the U.S. Supreme Court held that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was unconstitutional because it violated the Fifth Amendment. United States v. Windsor, 133 S. Ct. 2675, 2695 (2013).  Section 3 defined the word “marriage” to mean only a legal union between one man and one woman, and so “spouse” could only refer to a person of the opposite sex who was a husband or wife.  1 U.S.C.  § 7.  The Supreme Court argued that the federal prohibition of same-sex marriages that states had lawfully recognized “undermined both the public and private significance of state sanctioned same-sex marriages,” and that Section 3’s ‘‘purpose and effect [was] to disparage and to injure those whom the State, by its marriage laws, sought to protect’’ 133 S. Ct. at 2694-95. … Read more →

HIPAA Privacy in Emergency Situations0

iStock_000019241379SmallThis State Bar of California Health Law E-Bulletin was published on November 19, 2014.

In response to concerns about the spread of Ebola Hemorrhagic Fever, the United States Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Office of Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a bulletin clarifying the ways in which the HIPAA Privacy Rule applies in emergency situations. Designed to protect the privacy rights of patients’ protected health information (“PHI”), OCR is mindful that in certain events health care providers must balance privacy rights with the need to protect the nation’s public health. The Privacy Rule provides for certain exceptions on a daily basis:

*  The Privacy Rule permits covered entities to share patient information without authorization when it is necessary to treat the patient (or to treat different patients).

*  Public health authorities and other parties responsible for ensuring public health and safety have access to PHI. This includes possible disclosure to a public health authority, at the direction of a public health authority, or to individuals at risk of contracting or spreading a disease or condition.

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