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Tags Posts tagged with "CMS"

CMS

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has been sharing information and bringing awareness about the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) program. This new long-term program can assist individuals who use telehealth services to help lower the cost of broadband service for eligible households struggling to afford internet service.

The ACP provides:

  • Up to $30/month discount for broadband service;
  • Up to $75/month discount for households on qualifying tribal lands; and
  • A one-time discount of up to $100 for a laptop, desktop computer, or tablet purchased through a participating provider if the household contributes more than $10 but less than $50 toward the purchase price.

The ACP is limited to 1 monthly service discount and 1 device discount per household.

Who’s Eligible?

An individual’s household is eligible for the ACP if the household income is at or below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or if a member of the household meets at least 1 of the criteria outlined on the FCC’s website.

Individuals can enroll in two steps by:

  1. Going to ACPBenefit to apply online or print a mail-in application; and
  2. Contacting their preferred participating ACP provider to select a plan, who will apply the discount to the patient’s bill.

Some ACP providers may request individuals to complete an alternative application. Eligible households must apply for the program and contact a participating provider to select a service plan.

For Additional Information:

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) identified an error in the patient counts for each inpatient rehabilitation facility patient assessment instrument (IRF-PAI) measure in the March 2022 provider preview reports (which were originally issued on April 13, 2022) related to the June 2022 refresh of IRF quality data on CMS Care Compare. CMS has updated the report to apply the COVID-19 reporting exceptions to only exclude stays that occurred in Quarter 1 (Q1) and Quarter 2 (Q2) of 2020. The March 2022 provider preview reports are currently available for review until May 27, 2022. Questions about the reports should be sent by email.

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a virtual training program for both inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) and Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs). The virtual IRF training program will review the updated guidance for the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility – Patient Assessment Instrument (IRF-PAI) 4.0 and the LTCH Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) 5.0 for providers in the IRF and LTCH settings. This training is part of a comprehensive strategy to ensure IRF and LTCH providers have access to the education necessary to understand and comply with changes in reporting requirements associated with the IRF and LTCH Quality Reporting Programs (QRPs) that go into effect on October 1, 2022. A major focus of this training will be on the cross-setting implementation of the standardized patient assessment data elements being introduced in 2022 to ensure more consistent reporting and evaluation across post-acute care settings.

The training program consists of two parts:

  • Part 1: Beginning May 9, 2022: Access will be provided to recorded training session videos that deliver foundational knowledge necessary to understanding the new items and guidance. These videos are intended to be reviewed in advance of the live event.
  • Part 2: June 15–16, 2022: Live, virtual workshop sessions will provide coding practice on the items covered in the Part 1 videos. These live sessions will take place each day from 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm.

To participate in the training program, registration is required. If you have questions about accessing resources or feedback regarding the trainings, please email the PAC Training Mailbox. Content-related questions should be submitted to the LTCH QRP Help Desk and IRF QRP Help Desk

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced the next Hospital/Quality Initiative open door forum has been scheduled for April 26, 2022, from 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm. Agenda topics that will be covered during this open door forum include:

  • Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Inpatient/Long-Term Care Prospective Payment System (IPPS/LTC PPS) Proposed Rule
    • Hospital Quality Updates:
      • Background/Context on Health Equity and Maternal Health
      • Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program
        • Equity and Maternal Health Measures
        • Other IQR Measures and eCQM Reporting Requirements
        • Hospital Designation on Maternal Care
        • Requests for Information (RFIs) Re: Health Equity and Maternal Health
      • Measure Suppressions Due to the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
      • Promoting Interoperability Program and Advancing Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) RFI
      • Hospitals and Critical Access Hospital (CAH) Conditions of Participation (CoPs) – Required COVID-19 Reporting Until December 2024, and Reporting in Future Public Health Emergencies (PHEs)
    • IPPS and Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Update
    • RFI on Resource Costs for N95 Masks
  • IPPS Wage Index Timeline Update

There will also be an open question and answer (Q&A) session included during the hour. This call will be a conference call only.

To participate by phone:
Dial: 888-455-1397 & Reference Conference Passcode: 5109694
Instant Replay: 866-416-1185, Conference ID: No Passcode Needed

Instant Replay is an audio recording of this call that can be accessed by dialing 866-416-1185 beginning 1 hour after the call has ended. The recording expires after April 28, 2022.

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ODP Announcement 22-045 announces that the renewals of the Consolidated, Community Living, and P/FDS waivers were submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 1, 2022. CMS requires Medicaid waivers to be renewed every five years. The submitted waivers included revisions made as a result of over 500 public comments received from individuals and self-advocates, families, agencies, and organizations. Each full waiver application, as well as the Record of Change document that contains the substantive changes made as a result of public comment, is available online.

It is anticipated that the waiver renewals will be approved and effective July 1, 2022. The Office of Developmental Programs (ODP) will inform all stakeholders when the waiver renewals have been approved. The approved versions will be made available online at that time.

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On March 31, 2022, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the fiscal year (FY) 2023 inpatient rehabilitation facility prospective payment system (IRF PPS) proposed rule.

Some of the key provisions contained in this proposed rule include:

Proposed Updates to the FY 2023 IRF PPS Payment Policies
CMS is proposing to update the IRF PPS payment rates by 2.8 percent based on the IRF market basket update of 3.2 percent less than a 0.4 percentage point productivity adjustment. CMS is proposing that if more recent data becomes available (for example, a more recent estimate of the market basket update or productivity adjustment), they would use this data, if appropriate, to determine the FY 2023 market basket update and the productivity adjustment in the final rule. In addition, the proposed rule contains an adjustment to the outlier threshold to maintain outlier payments at 3.0 percent of total payments. This adjustment will result in a 0.8 percentage point decrease in outlier payments. The estimated overall IRF payments for FY 2023 would increase by 2.0 percent (or $170 million), relative to payments in FY 2022.

Proposed Permanent Cap on Wage Index Decreases
CMS is proposing a permanent 5 percent cap on annual wage index decreases to smooth year-to-year changes in providers’ wage index payments.

Soliciting Comments on the Office of Inspector General (OIG) Recommendation to Include Home Health in the IRF Transfer Policy
A recent Office of Inspector General (OIG) report that evaluated early discharges from IRFs to home health recommended that CMS expand the IRF transfer payment policy to apply to early discharges to home health. CMS is requesting feedback from stakeholders about potentially including home health in the IRF transfer payment policy, as recommended by OIG. CMS plans to analyze home health claims to determine the appropriateness of including home health in the IRF transfer policy, and is seeking comments to inform this future analysis and any potential future rulemaking.

Soliciting Comments on the Methodology for Updating the Facility-Level Adjustment Factors
CMS is seeking public comments regarding the methodology used to determine the facility-level adjustment factors and suggestions for what may be driving the variability in the IRF teaching status adjustment factor.

IRF Teaching Status Adjustment Policy
CMS is proposing to codify the longstanding IRF teaching status adjustment policy in regulation and clarify certain teaching status adjustment policies.

Proposed Updates to the IRF Quality Reporting Program (QRP)
The IRF QRP is a pay-for-reporting program. IRFs that do not meet reporting requirements are subject to a 2.0 percentage point reduction in their Annual Increase Factor (AIF). CMS is proposing one policy change and is initiating three Requests for Information (RFIs) related to the IRF QRP.

Quality Data Reporting on All IRF Patients Regardless of Payer
CMS is proposing to expand the IRF qualify data reporting requirements, which currently apply to all admitted IRF patients with Medicare Part A fee-for-service (FFS) and Medicare Part C, such that IRFs would begin collecting data on all IRF patients, regardless of payer. This policy proposal would help to ensure all IRF patients are receiving the same quality of care and that provider metrics reflect performance across the spectrum of IRF patients. CMS is proposing that this expanded quality reporting requirement would take effect starting with the FY 2025 IRF QRP, meaning providers would need to start collecting the IRF-Patient Assessment Instrument (PAI) assessment on all patients receiving care in an IRF, regardless of payer, beginning on October 1, 2023.

Inclusion of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Healthcare-Associated Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) Infection Outcome Measure in the IRF QRP — Request for Information (RFI)
CMS is seeking stakeholder feedback on the future inclusion of the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Healthcare-associated Clostridioides difficile Infection (HA-CDI) Outcome Measure as a digital quality measure in the IRF QRP. This measure tracks the development of new C. difficile infection among patients already admitted to IRFs, using algorithmic determinations from data sources widely available in electronic health records. This measure improves on the existing NHSN Facility-wide Inpatient Hospital-onset Clostridium difficile Infection (CDI) Outcome Measure (NQF #1717) by requiring both microbiologic evidence of C. difficile in stool and evidence of antimicrobial treatment. Through this RFI, CMS would like to assess the feasibility of this digital measure in IRFs. If this type of measure is proposed and finalized in a future rule, this would be the first digital measure in the IRF QRP.

Overarching Principles for Measuring Equity and Healthcare Quality Disparities Across CMS Quality Programs — Request for Information (RFI)
CMS is committed to achieving equity in health care outcomes for beneficiaries. In this RFI, CMS provides an update on the equity work that is occurring across CMS. Included are: plans to expand the quality reporting programs to allow CMS to provide more actionable, comprehensive information on health care disparities; measuring health care disparities through quality measurement and reporting these results to providers; and providing an update on our methods and research around measure development and disparity reporting.

The proposed rule will be published in the April 6 Federal Register. Comments on the proposed rule are due by May 31, 2022.

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Webinar: How Blended, Braided or Sequenced Funding Can Help Drive Employment, Equity and Inclusion
Tuesday, March 22 | 3:00pm–4:30pm ET
Register for the webinar.

The Administration for Community Living, along with federal partners at the Department of Labor, Department of Education, and the Social Security Administration, invite you to attend a federal interagency webinar hosted by the LEAD Center.

Demand for workplace talent is high. Remote work opportunities may be with us to stay. These conditions offer new opportunities for expanded access to workforce activities for people with disabilities.

To ensure that workforce programs are ready to meet this demand and can support job seekers and career changers equitably, programs often need to draw on a range of different funding sources. The ability to blend, sequence, or braid funding with other resources becomes an essential ingredient to support employment, equity, and inclusion. Yet each source of funding usually comes with specific goals, target populations, and performance indicators.

In this federal interagency webinar hosted by the LEAD Center, state practitioners across the workforce system will discuss how they successfully applied innovative, collaborative resource sharing that benefits both businesses and job seekers with disabilities.

Contact Dallas Oberlee with questions.

ACL/CMS Promising Practices Webinar Series: Rethinking Day Services —The Without Walls Approach
Thursday, March 24 | 3:00 pm–4:30 pm ET
Register for the webinar.

This webinar will provide insight into how a without walls approach can be used as part of a COVID-19 response strategy, how to train staff to shift from center-based services to community-based services, and what a without walls approach looks like in practice. For more info, please visit this link.

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