Articles and Blogs

Congress Passes 21st Century Cures Bill On December 7, the Senate passed the sweeping 21st Century Cures bill (H.R. 34), clearing the way for it to be signed into law. The Senate vote comes a week after House passage of the $6.3 billion medical research funding bill that makes comprehensive mental health reforms and... READ MORE

Trump Nominates HHS Secretary and CMS Administrator On November 29, President-elect Donald Trump announced his choice to lead the top federal health care agencies.  Trump nominated Rep. Tom Price, MD, (R-GA) to head HHS and health care consultant Seema Verma as the next CMS Administrator.  Dr. Price currently serves as the House Budget Committee... READ MORE

Congress Returns to Washington The House and Senate returned this week to begin the “lame duck” portion of the congressional calendar. The session is expected to run through December 9 at which point lawmakers will adjourn the 114th Congress. The only must-do item on the Congressional agenda is funding the federal government, which expires... READ MORE

Election Threatens Future of the Affordable Care Act On November 8, Americans elected Donald J. Trump the 45th President of the United States and in doing so put the future of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) in serious jeopardy. Republicans retained control of the House of Representatives and held on to what is expected... READ MORE

September 30, 2016 CMS Releases Final Rule for Long-Term Care Facilities On September 28, CMS released a final rule that overhauls the federal regulations that apply to long-term care facilities and creates new compliance obligations for providers. The measure, which goes into effect November 28, 2016, will implement the new regulations in three phases over... READ MORE

Long-Term Care and Rural Hospital Bills Pass House On September 20, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that is intended to provide relief to long-term care hospitals from the “25 percent rule.” The CMS rule, which has been delayed by Congress for years, allows for no more than 25 percent of patients... READ MORE

House, Senate Chairman Highlight GAO Report on Medicaid Reform Late last week, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) highlighted a new GAO report on Medicaid reform. The report was released by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (“GAO”) detailing policy considerations regarding per capita caps... READ MORE

Congress Returns for Final Work Period Before the Election The House and Senate returned on Tuesday for their final work period prior to the November elections. The most pressing issue is funding the federal government, which is set to end on September 30, 2016. That gives lawmakers few legislative days to complete a Continuing Resolution... READ MORE

Senate Committee Urged to Reform Stark Law On July 12, the Senate Finance Committee heard from hospital stakeholders on various options to reform the Stark Law. Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) said he would like to undo what he sees as the law’s “outdated regulations.” Hatch also stated he would like the committee to do... READ MORE

CMS Releases Proposed Payment Changes for OPPS and ASC Payment System On July 6, CMS issued its annual proposal for updating payment rates and policies in the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (“ASC”) payment system. The proposed rule would also implement Section 603 of the Bipartisan Budget Act of... READ MORE