The much-anticipated final Payment Notice and Letter to Issuers in the Federally-facilitated Marketplaces was released early this month, with states’ concerns about the impact of COVID-19 evident in many of the finalized policy changes. The first post this month details ...
Last month, Health Policy News brought you breaking news about the legislation and guidance aimed at providing greater flexibility to states and providers as they struggle to meet health and service demands during this global pandemic; requirements relative to COVID-19-related ...
Introduction Health Policy News had planned content for the month of March, but given the unprecedented times we are all living through, we thought it best to dedicate this month’s entire edition to recent federal and state efforts to ...
Introduction On January 31, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP) and the draft Letter to Issuers in the Federally-facilitated Exchanges, as well as accompanying guidance and timelines. ...
On April 25, 2020, Health Affairs published a piece by one of the editors of Health Policy News, entitled “States Should Act Now To Mitigate Commercial Insurance Costs Associated With COVID-19”[1]. The piece focuses on actions states can take to potentially mitigate costs associated with COVID-19—specifically, examining the impact that COVID-19-related health insurance expenditures in ...
Health Policy News continues tracking federal-level action aimed at addressing the broad impact of the COVID-19 pandemic with a focus on actions to support states and providers in their efforts to respond to the pandemic and its impact. As in our March and April articles, this post aggregates the latest updates from the federal level, ...
On March 19, 2020, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released M-20-17, Administrative Relief for Recipients and Applicants of Federal Financial Assistance Directly Impacted by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) due to Loss of Operations (henceforth “OMB memo”). Although many of the operational impacts and costs of COVID-19 are unknowable at this point, the memo ...
With filing deadlines quickly approaching, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released final versions of the Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters (NBPP) for 2021 and the 2021 Letter to Issuers in the Federally-facilitated Exchanges (Letter) on May 7, 2020. At the same time, CMS released accompanying guidance: Key Dates for Calendar Year ...
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact the country, Congress and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) continue to advance funding opportunities, temporary policy changes and waivers to support states, providers, and the public in their efforts to address the pandemic and its broad impact. This article aggregates the latest updates on the ...
As the U.S. continues battling the COVID-19 pandemic, individual states have enacted policy mandates and taken action to ensure patients have access to medication, healthcare, and COVID-19 testing and treatment—while minimizing barriers to these resources and/or the pre-approval needed to access them. With social distancing and the stay-at-home order still in effect, a nationwide focus ...
State Medicaid agencies have been hit hard during the COVID-19 crisis. Over the last several weeks, there has been an unprecedented increase in member enrollments, as well as significant disruptions in care delivery due to stay-at-home orders. As states shift their focus to implementing new policies to ensure continuity of services and mitigate the risk ...
In this unprecedented time, much attention has been paid to Congressional response to the clinical and economic needs resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, Congress, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other federal agencies have actively put forth legislation and guidance aimed at providing greater flexibility to states and ...
Health Policy News often features Medicaid-related policy topics; this month, we are featuring the first in a series of pieces that touch on Medicare policy—specifically, Emergency Medical Services (EMS). PCG is fortunate to have retired Las Vegas Deputy Fire Chief Ken Riddle leading our work in this area. We spent time with Ret. Deputy Chief ...
The last several weeks saw a number of Medicaid policy-related developments. In our round-up below, we share key takeaways from each. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Block Grant Guidance As we shared in our newsletter last month, CMS recently released a State Medicaid Director Letter with long-awaited guidance on Medicaid block grants. Earlier this ...
