Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Government Watchdog To Review CMS Contracts For Publicity Consultants Who Helped Polish Verma's Brand
The Associated Press: Watchdog To Examine Medicare Chief’s Publicity Spending
A government watchdog said Friday it will review costly outside contracts to handle public relations for Medicare chief Seema Verma, whose agency oversees health insurance programs covering more than 100 million Americans. Responding to a request by congressional Democrats, the Health and Human Services inspector general’s office said it will examine Verma’s public relations contracts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS. (Alonso-Zaldivar, 4/5)
Modern Healthcare: Medicare ACOs Could Lose Bonuses Due To Quality Measure Change
Accountable care organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program claim they may lose out on some of their bonuses after the CMS made unexpected changes to a smoking cessation measure. Medicare ACOs were recently surprised to see during 2018 quality reporting for the CMS program that substantial changes had been made to ACO-17, a preventive measure used to screen patients for tobacco use and provide a cessation intervention for those who smoke. (Castellucci, 4/5)
Modern Healthcare: CMS Expands Medicare Advantage Telehealth Benefits
The CMS finalized a rule on Friday that would give Medicare Advantage plans more flexibility to offer additional telehealth services to seniors as part of their basic benefits package starting in 2020. The rule, proposed in October 2018, allows seniors to use telehealth services in their homes, rather than being required to go to a healthcare facility. (Livingston, 4/5)
Modern Healthcare: MedPAC Finds Low-Volume, Rural Dialysis Centers Are Underpaid
Medicare's payment adjustment to rural and low-volume dialysis facilities needs to be updated to better target facilities that are struggling, according to a new analysis from a key Medicare panel. The analysis released Friday during a meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission found that low-volume and rural facilities had lower Medicare payment margins than high-volume and urban facilities. (King, 4/5)
Modern Healthcare: N.C. Reference-Based Pricing Plan Hits Roadblock
The North Carolina treasurer's plan to tie hospital and physician payments for state employee health services to a percentage of Medicare stalled in the state House of Representatives, which could spell doom for the proposal. The state's House passed a bill this week that would halt the treasurer's plan. If the Senate also passes the bill blocking the reference-pricing model from going into effect, the treasurer and the board of trustees that governs the North Carolina State Health Plan will be kicked back to the drawing board to grapple with a health plan set to run out of money in the next five years. (Livingston, 4/5)
