AMERICAN HOSPITAL ASSOCIATION

Medicare/Medicaid

Support H.R. 315,Medicare Sequester COVID Moratorium Act, a bill to amend the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to extend the temporary suspension of Medicare sequestration; Support H.R. 1332 and S.368,Telehealth Modernization Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to make permanent certain telehealth flexibilities under the Medicare program related to the COVID-19 public health emergency; Discussion with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) about the Radiation Oncology Alternative Payment Model; Support H.R. 1868, a bill that, among other health care provisions, would eliminate the 2% across-the-board cut to all Medicare payments, known as sequestration, until the end of 2021; Support H.R. 2455, The Resetting the Impact Act (TRIA), a bill to amend the IMPACT Act of 2014 to reset data collection and the development of a payment system technical prototype for post-acute care providers under the Medicare program to take into account the effects of COVID-19; Support H.R. 3173/ S.3018, Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act of 2021, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish requirements with respect to the use of prior authorization under Medicare Advantage plans, and for other purposes; Support H.R. 1887/ S. 4009, Rural Hospital Support Act, a bill to make permanent the Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) and Low-volume Adjustment programs and rebases the MDH and Sole Community Hospital programs; Support relief for Medicare advanced payments; Discussion with CMMI about the priorities for alternative payment models; Support HR 4587, Value in Health Care Act of 2021, a bill to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to revise certain regulations in relation to the Medicare shared savings program and other advanced alternative payment arrangements to encourage participation in such program, and for other purposes; Support HR 3746, Accountable Care in Rural America Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve the benchmarking process for the Medicare Shared Savings Program; Support H.R. 5425/ S. 1988, Protecting Rural Telehealth Access Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to protect access to telehealth services under the Medicare program; Letter asking Congress to address two important issues by the end of the year: an extension of the moratorium on Medicare sequester cuts, as well as preventing the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go (PAYGO) sequester from taking effect; Letter urging Congress to remove the reductions to the Medicaid disproportionate share hospital (DSH) program and uncompensated care pools from the Build Back Better Act; Support H.R. 5674/ S. 3061Medicare Mental Health Inpatient Equity Act of 2021, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to eliminate the 190-day lifetime limit on inpatient psychiatric hospital services under the Medicare Program; Letter to the HHS secretary asking for PHE extension and urging HHS to extend the declaration for at least 90 days; Letter to the HHS secretary asking to renew the COVID-19 PHE; Letter to CMS urging changes to MA prior authorization requirements for PHE; Letter expressing our disappointment that Congress is adjourning for April recess without addressing the needs of hospitals and health systems and urging Congress to act to ensure health care providers have the critical relief, including but not limited to extending the Medicare sequester relief, adding more PRF dollars, and providing flexibility in the repayment terms for Medicare accelerated and advance repayments; Provide comments in response to the (CMS) request for information regarding access to coverage and care in the Medicaid and Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) programs. The critical components for a comprehensive access and coverage strategy for Medicaid and CHIP should include: Robust outreach and enrollment efforts to secure and maintain coverage for eligible individuals and families, as well as ensure beneficiary knowledge of how to use this coverage, Standards to ensure timely and equitable access to quality care, and Provider payments that are sufficient to enable beneficiaries' access to quality care; Provide comments in response to the Department of Homeland Securitys (DHS) proposed rule to codify standards and clarify policies that govern public charge determinations. Public charge determinations assess how likely it is that an individual will become dependent on government assistance (public benefits) for support and subsistence. These policy clarifications are intended to help immigrants and their family members better understand when the use of certain public benefits could impact their future immigration status and address the chilling effects of the now-repealed 2019 public charge final rule. The AHA supports DHSs efforts to clarify policies regarding how public charge determinations are made to help reverse the damaging effects of the repealed 2019 public charge rule; A bill to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to expand the availability of mental, emotional, and behavioral health services under the Medicaid program; Letter urging Congress to halt further cuts to hospital payments. Need to stop a harmful Medicare payment cut to providers that will go into effect July 1 without congressional action. Specifically, a 1% Medicare sequester cut took effect April 1, and that cut will increase to 2% on July 1 if Congress does not act. This will result in billions of dollars being cut from hospitals and health systems by the end of the year; Submitted comment letter regarding Medicare Program; Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2023 and Updates to the IRF Quality Reporting Program. We note that the proposed IRF PPS labor-related share would only modestly shift upward from 72.9% in FY 2022 to 73.2% in FY 2022. AHA is concerned that these changes neither align regarding massive cost growth in recent months and years; Provide Comments on the Medicare Program - Prospective Payment System and Consolidated Billing for Skilled Nursing Facilities and Updates to the Quality Reporting Program and Value-Based Purchasing Program for Federal Fiscal Year 2023 which stated the Proposed FY 2023 Payment Update warrants closer examination and we urge CMS to discuss in the final rule how the agency will account for these increased costs. The timing of this proposed net decrease in payments could not be worse, given the well-documented impact of the COVID-19 public emergency (PHE) on the SNF and nursing home field; Letter sent to the bipartisan, bicameral Leadership of the House and Senate, urging Congress to act to prevent further Medicare sequester cuts scheduled to take effect on July 1; Submitted comment letter about inpatient and long-term care hospital prospective payment system proposed rule for fiscal year 2023. Concerned that CMS is proposing policies and payment adjustment that do not take into account the current the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) and its atypical market forces and pandemic-driven aberrations affecting the utilization and cost of providing LTCH services. Specifically, we are concerned by proposals for an inadequate market basket update and an untenable spike in the high-cost outlier threshold; Letter urges Congress to call on CMS to make changes to the hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) proposed rule for fiscal year (FY) 2023 in order to ensure that Medicare payments for acute care services more accurately reflect the cost of providing hospital care to patients and communities; Support the bipartisan Dear Colleague letters that ask CMS to make critical changes to the hospital inpatient prospective payment system proposed rule for fiscal year (FY) 2023 to more accurately reflect the cost of providing hospital care to patients; Support HR 8487/ S 3173 Improving Seniors Timely Access to Care Act of 2022, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to establish requirements with respect to the use of prior authorization under Medicare Advantage plans; Support HR 8747 Assistance for Rural Community Hospitals Act of 2022 or the ARCH Act of 2022, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to extend Medicare-dependent hospital and Medicare low-volume hospital payments; Oppose HR 1330/ S 4130 Patient Access to Higher Quality Health Care Act of 2022, a bill to repeal changes made by health care reform laws to the Medicare exception to the prohibition on certain physician referrals for hospitals, and for other purposes; Support HR 8188/ S4449 Saving Access to Laboratory Services Act, a bill to amend title XVIII of the Social Security Act to improve the accuracy of market-based Medicare payment for clinical diagnostic laboratory services, to reduce administrative burdens in the collection of data, and for other purposes; Letter urged Congress to prevent the Statutory Pay-As-You-Go Act of 2010 (Statutory PAYGO) sequester from taking effect at the end of this session of Congress. Failure to waive Statutory PAYGO sequester cuts would result in $38 billion in Medicare cuts in fiscal year 2023 which would have a devastating impact on the health care field, destabilizing health care access; Letter expressing opportunities to increase participation, enhance efficacy of Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) programs, and further transition our health care system from volume to value; Letter to provide feedback on the cybersecurity policy proposals released in Senator Warner report. Hospitals and health systems have prioritized protecting patients and defending their networks from cyberattacks. However, they need support from the federal government as the field continues to face targets from sophisticated cyber adversaries and nation-states; Letter to leadership encouraging Congress to take steps to provide relief to those seeking and administering behavioral health care; Support HR 7744, Building Americas Health Care Workforce Act, a bill to amend title XI of the Social Security Act to extend beyond the COVID-19 emergency period, with certain modifications, the Emergency Declaration Blanket Waiver relating to training and certification of nurse aides to alleviate burdens imposed on staff of skilled nursing facilities and nursing facilities.