Below is Alston & Bird’s
Health Care Week in Review, which provides a synopsis of the latest news in healthcare regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and congressional committee action; reports, studies, and analyses; and other health policy news.
Week in Review Highlight of the Week:
This week, CMS issued its proposed FY 2022 payment updates for inpatient psychiatric and rehabilitation facilities, hospice, and skilled nursing facilities. Read more about the updates and other news below.
I. Regulations, Notices & Guidance
On April 5, 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued guidance entitled,
Development of Abbreviated New Drug Applications During the COVID-19 Pandemic Questions and Answers Guidance for Industry. FDA is issuing this guidance to provide general recommendations to prospective applicants and applicants of abbreviated new drug applications (ANDAs) related to generic drug product development and regulatory submissions in the form of
Covid-19 Vaccination To Go Contactless With Aadhaar-Based Face Recognition: Here s What It Means outlookindia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from outlookindia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(Photo by Luis Alvarez/Getty Images)
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a proposed rule that updates hospice base payments and the aggregate cap amount for 2022.
As proposed, hospices would see a 2.3%, or $530 million increase in their payments for FY 2022. The proposed 2.3% hospice payment update is based on the estimated 2.5% inpatient hospital market basket reduced by the multifactor productivity adjustment of 0.2%.
Hospices that fail to meet quality reporting requirements receive a two percentage point reduction to the annual market basket update for FY 2022.
The hospice payment update includes a statutory aggregate cap that limits the overall payments per patient that is made to a hospice annually. The proposed cap amount for 2022 is $31,389.66, which is the 2021 cap amount of $30,683.93 increased by 2.3%.
CMS wants to bump pay for hospices, SNFs next year
CMS wants to bump pay for hospices, SNFs next year
Getty Images
Hospices and skilled nursing facilities are likely to get a pay bump in 2022, CMS said Thursday.
The agency plans to increase hospice payments by 2.3%, or $530 million, in 2022. The proposed aggregate cap for hospice payments is just under $31,390. According to a CMS fact sheet, CMS also plans to update the labor shares for continuous home care, route home care, inpatient respite care, and general inpatient care.
The agency proposed to make permanent a waiver it issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic that allows the use of a pseudo-patient for hospice aide competency training. CMS also wants to allow hospices to carry out targeted competency evaluations to focus on a hospice aide s specific deficiencies and related skills.
CMS wants to boost payments over 2% for inpatient rehabilitation, psychiatric
CMS wants to boost payments over 2% for inpatient rehabilitation, psychiatric
Modern Healthcare Illustration / Getty Images
CMS wants to boost Medicare payments for inpatient rehabilitation facilities by 2.2% and inpatient psychiatric facilities by 2.3% next year, the agency said Wednesday.
According to CMS, the changes would increase federal spending on inpatient rehab by $160 million compared to 2021. Likewise, federal spending on inpatient psychiatric facilities would go up by about $90 million.
Regulators plan to require inpatient rehabilitation and psychiatric facilities to report COVID-19 vaccine coverage among their healthcare personnel. This proposed measure is designed to assess whether IRFs are taking steps to limit the spread of COVID-19 among their HCP, reduce the risk of transmission within their facilities, and help sustain the ability of IRFs to continue serving their communities throu