Apr 27, 2020 | Inpatient Rehab (IRF)
The FY 2021 Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) proposed rule, released on April 16th, estimated a +2.9% increase in net payments. The proposed rule included several measures aimed at expanding scope of practice for non-physician practitioners, and proposed permanently removing post-admission evaluation requirements to alleviate administrative burden. Click to read more.
Apr 24, 2020 | Managed Care Friday
21: Percent spike in the number of prescriptions filled per week for antidepressant, anti-anxiety, and anti-insomnia medications between February 16 and March 15, according to an Express Scripts report. Sales peaked the week ending March 15, when COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. Anti-anxiety medication use rose the most, at +34.1%. Glidepath to Risk: Just because there’s a pandemic doesn’t mean risk contracting has stopped, interestingly, as we’re hearing more payers and providers continuing to explore risk contracts. And why not? With the downtick in visit volume, it’s not a bad time to be...
Apr 22, 2020 | Legislation/ Budgets/ Macro
The 4th COVID-19 bill focuses on small business loans and grants, as well as the next tranche of disbursement from the original $100 billion for healthcare providers. Click to read more.
Apr 21, 2020 | Legislation/ Budgets/ Macro
On April 19, CMS issued guidance for regions with a lower COVID-19 impact: “Non-COVID-19 care should be offered to patients as clinically appropriate and within a state, locality, or facility that has the resources to provide such care and the ability to quickly respond to a surge in COVID-19 cases, if necessary. Decisions should be consistent with public health information and in collaboration with state public health authorities.” Click to read more.
