Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare Proposes Changes In Pain Questions, Cuts In Payments To Hospitals' Off-Site Facilities
Modern Healthcare: CMS Angers Hospitals With Plans For Site-Neutral Rates In Outpatient Payment Rule
The CMS has responded to calls to eliminate patient satisfaction on pain management from Medicare's value-based purchasing program. The agency angered hospitals, however, with plans to stop paying their off-campus facilities the same as hospital-based outpatient departments. Both policies are included in the proposed rule for the 2017 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System issued Wednesday. (Dickson, 7/6)
Related KHN coverage: Doctors Wrestle With Mixed Messages When Deciding Whether To Prescribe Painkillers (Luthra, 7/28)
Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal: Proposal Saves Medicare Counseling Program
Federal funding for free local counseling on annual Medicare options may be preserved for fiscal 2016-17 after all. The U.S. House Appropriations Committee’s draft bill for education, health and human services and labor, released Wednesday, includes $52 million for the State Health Insurance Information Plan — the same amount in the current federal budget. The $52 million was stripped in June from the budgets of the same three agencies by the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee in a 29-1 vote. (Craver, 7/7)
Iowa Public Radio: Grassley Implores Federal Government To Not Change Medicare Policy
Sen. Chuck Grassley has sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, urging the agency to keep a policy in place that requires private Medicare insurers to cover all antidepressant medications and all immuno-suppressant drugs used for transplant patients. CMS is considering changing this rule. In a report last month, the agency reasons that medications in these categories include a number of generic options. (Boden, 7/5)
Detroit Free Press: Blue Cross Plans Medigap Rate Hikes On Seniors, Up To $315 Per Month
Nearly 200,000 Michigan seniors can expect to pay more for their Medigap supplemental health insurance plans next year — for some older individuals, more than twice their current amount — when Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan goes forward with a long-awaited rate increase that does away with what the insurer says are below-market rates. (Reindl, 7/6)
