The Community HealthChoices (CHC) Third Thursday Webinar that was scheduled for February 20, 2020 has been cancelled. The next webinar is scheduled for March 19, 2020 at 1:30 pm.
To access the transcripts and slides from previous Third Thursday Webinars, please visit the website.
After conducting many reviews and examining the coverage policies of private payers, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a decision to cover acupuncture for Medicare patients that suffer from chronic low back pain. The increased reliance on opioids and the current opioid public health crisis were large contributors to this decision. Studies have shown that patients who have suffered from chronic low back pain, and were treated by acupuncture, showed significant improvements in both function and pain. Hence, a better alternative than prescription opioids. This expansion of options for pain treatment is a large piece of the Trump Administrations’ strategy for defeating the country’s opioid crisis.
Acupuncture is a treatment performed by practitioners who stimulate specific points on the body by inserting small thin needles through the skin. For the purpose of this decision, chronic low back pain is defined as:
Medicare will cover up to 12 sessions in 90 days, with an additional 8 sessions for those patients with chronic low back pain who demonstrate improvement. No more than 20 acupuncture treatments may be administered annually. Treatment must be discontinued if the patient is not improving or is regressing.
Due to the increase in joint replacement surgeries and the prediction for these surgeries to become more prevalent by 2025, along with the implementation of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative, a request has been made by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for feedback on Pre-rehabilitation and Rehabilitation for joint replacement surgery. AHRQ is specifically seeking this information because decision makers are unclear about which pre-rehabilitation (e.g., resistance and proprioceptive training) and rehabilitation interventions (e.g., rehabilitation hospitalization, home physical therapy, or outpatient physical therapy) provide the most optimal patient outcomes with the most efficient use of resources. There is also discussion over the settings where these interventions provide the most value. Because of this uncertainty, a new systemic review on the effects of pre-rehabilitation and rehabilitation for major joint replacement surgery may be warranted.
RCPA encourages members to provide feedback to the key questions. The deadline to provide feedback is Friday, January 17, 2020.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is seeking additional feedback and recommendations regarding the elimination of specific Medicare regulations that require more stringent supervision than existing state scope of practice laws, or that limit health professionals from practicing at the top of their license.
This request from CMS stems from President Trump’s Executive Order (EO) #13890: Protecting and Improving Medicare for our Nation’s Seniors, which directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to propose a number of reforms to the Medicare program. These reforms include those that eliminate supervision and licensure requirements of the Medicare program that are more stringent than other applicable federal or state laws and often limit health care professionals, such as Physician Assistants (PAs) and Advanced Practice Registered Nurses (APRN) from practicing at the top of their professional license.
CMS did incorporate some of the recommendations previously submitted in several payment rules, including the calendar year (CY) 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), where one of the changes included redefining physician supervision for services furnished by Physician Assistants (PAs).
If members have additional recommendations on ways to reduce unnecessary burden, increase efficiencies, and improve the beneficiary experience, please send them to this email with “Scope of Practice” in the subject line. Recommendations must be submitted by January 17, 2020.
The next Community HealthChoices (CHC) Third Thursday webinar has been scheduled for January 16, 2020 from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm. During this webinar, Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL’s) Deputy Secretary Kevin Hancock will provide updates on the CHC program. Providers should register to participate in the webinar. Once registered, a confirmation email will be sent and will include the call information. Questions about the webinar should be directed to OLTL’s Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management at 717-857-3280.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved the Office of Long-Term Living’s (OLTL) Community HealthChoices (CHC) Waiver renewal. The renewal became effective on January 1, 2020.
Key changes in the approved waiver include:
Questions surrounding the CHC Waiver Renewal should be directed to the OLTL Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management at 717-857-3280.
On this episode of A BATTLE WITHIN, we get to spend some time talking with Kevin McDonald.
Kevin was at the Mind Your Brain Conference in October of this past year. His work is conducted locally and on both the state and federal levels in an effort to help those affected by the invisible injury.
In part one, they cover his own injury from 2009, his recovery process and the support he has had available to him. We also get to learn a little about what he has been up recently as he continues down the road of trying to improve.
Next we will spend time reviewing his wonderful organization Restart Your Life/Review Your Mind and covering the advocacy work he has down statewide and on the federal level.
You will find much of what Kevin has to say to be important and valuable. Having somebody like this in the fight in our community of warriors is fantastic and deserves to be recognized.
Keep Battling!
The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) will be conducting the next Community HealthChoices (CHC) Third Thursday webinar on December 19, 2019 from 1:30 pm – 3:00 pm. During this webinar, Deputy Secretary Kevin Hancock will provide updates on the CHC program. To participate in the webinar, please register here. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email that contains the information about joining the webinar. If you have any questions, please contact the OLTL Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management at 717-857-3280.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the availability of the inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) provider preview reports. These reports have been updated and contain information based on quality data submitted by IRFs between Quarter 3 of 2018 and Quarter 2 of 2019. The data will reflect what will be published on IRF Compare during the March 2020 update of the website.
Providers have 30 days (December 9, 2019 – January 9, 2020) to review their performance data. While corrections to the underlying data will not be permitted during this time, providers can request CMS to review their data during the preview period if they believe the quality measure scores that are displayed are inaccurate.
Additionally, providers are reminded that the data for the quality measure Percent of Residents or Patients that have new or worsened Pressure Ulcers (short stay), will continue to reflect data collected between Quarter 3 2017 – Quarter 2 2018, and will continue to be publicly displayed until the new Changes in Skin Integrity Post-Acute Care: Pressure Ulcer/Injury, is publicly displayed in fall 2020, as finalized in the fiscal year (FY) 2018 IRF PPS Final Rule.
As of the March 2020 refresh, CMS will no longer publicly display the measure Percent of Residents or Patients who were assessed and appropriately given the seasonal influenza vaccine (short stay), as finalized in the FY 2019 IRF PPS Final Rule. This change is reflected in preview reports. Contact RCPA Rehabilitation Services Director Melissa Dehoff with questions.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently notified the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) of the approval of the OBRA Waiver amendment. The amendment is effective on January 1, 2020.
The changes in the approved amendment include:
If you have any questions, please contact the OLTL Bureau of Policy Development and Communications Management at 717-857-3280.
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