Billy Wynne

Commissioners Discuss Context Chapter on Medicare Financing and Payment Policies; Express Interest in Consolidation and Growth in Service Intensity The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) convened a session to discuss a presentation on the Commission’s context chapter on Medicare payment policy and financing. Senior Analyst Rachel Burton detailed that the chapter serves as the backdrop…

Bipartisan Lower Costs, More Transparency Act House leadership from the Energy and Commerce (E&C), Ways and Means (W&M) and Education and Workforce Committees introduced the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act – bipartisan legislation that largely includes previously marked up and advanced bills from the three Committees (press release; text; section-by-section). The legislation features the following…

In 2023-2024 Meeting Cycle, MedPAC Will Examine MA Program, Including Benefit Standardization, Prior Authorization, Coding Intensity, Encounter Data, D-SNPs, and More The Medicare Payment and Access Commission (MedPAC) convened to discuss their analytic workplan on Medicare Advantage (MA) for the 2023-2024 cycle. Commissioners expressed strong support for the workplan, which will culminate in five chapters.…

HHS Proposes Rule to Clarify and Extend Prohibitions Against Discrimination on the Basis of a Disability The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released (press release; fact sheet) a proposed rule to amend the regulations at section 504 which protect against discrimination based on disability by recipients of financial assistance through HHS programs or…

Agency Solicits Public Comment and Expertise to Inform Measure Development for Medicaid HCBS and Medicare HHVBP The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently opened a public comment opportunity related to Medicaid home and community based services (HCBS) quality measure development, reliability, and usability. Details about the opportunity follow. Measure: Hospitalization for Ambulatory Care…

Senator Cassidy Releases White Paper on Artificial Intelligence; Requests Feedback on Framework to Regulate the Technology by September 22 Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA), the ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a white paper on artificial intelligence (AI) discussing AI’s potential benefits and risks to society. Sen. Cassidy is…

Innovation Center Announces New Voluntary, State TCOC Model; Applications Due Spring 2024 Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announced (model website) it is planning to test a new voluntary, state total cost of care (TCOC) model to address unsustainable health care cost growth, poor population health, and disparities in health outcomes. The States…

Mental Health Policy Update Following the COVID-19 pandemic, key mental health indicators across the country have been declining, particularly among youth. Policymakers are also concerned with the ability of the healthcare system to meet the demand of increasing substance use and mental health challenges. Addressing the mental health crisis is a rare bipartisan issue in…

HHS Announces Funding, New Resources in Recognition of International Overdose Awareness Day and Recovery Month This week the Biden-Harris Administration announced additional funding and resources to help address the opioid overdose epidemic and support substance use disorder recovery. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) states that through the HHS Overdose Prevention Strategy the…

Comment Period for Proposed Remedy for 340B Drug Payments for CY 2018-2022 Extended to September 11 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an extension of the comment period for the proposed remedy for 340B drug payments for calendar years (CY) 2018 through 2022. The original comment deadline was September 5, but comments…