Oct 18, 2018 | Legislation/ Budgets/ Macro, Medicaid
CMS announced this week that Mary Mayhew will serve as the new deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services, after Brian Neale resigned from the position in January. Mayhew was most recently Maine Governor Paul LePage's top health official and an opponent of Medicaid. Also, the GAO released a study finding that, relative to expansion states, non-expansion states have a greater number of uninsured low-income adults overall, with unmet medical needs, with financial barriers to medical care, and without a usual place of care. Click to read more.
Oct 16, 2018 | Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF)
The National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care (NIC) regularly reports on national skilled nursing facility (SNF) trends, including occupancy, quality, and patient/payer mix data. The most recent report visualizes data from late 2011 through June 2018. This brief discusses a few key takeaways from the report. Click to read more.
Oct 15, 2018 | Medicare, Physician Fee Schedule, Post-Acute Care
The CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) released an evaluation of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative that recently ended, showing a net cost to the Medicare program due primarily to provider incentive payments. CMMI also announced nearly 1,300 participants started in BPCI Advanced on October 1 – the Trump Administration’s new bundled care model which requires providers to take on downside risk. Click to read more.
Oct 12, 2018 | Managed Care Friday
Note: We will reporting live from the Payer’s Behavioral Health Summit in DC Oct 16-17; the first Managed Care Friday Forum series will be held at the end of this month; guests and topics to be announced. 1. 1 in 5: That’s the number of women who suffer from post-partum depression in some states according to CDC research. New studies show that most post-partum depression symptoms actually occur during pregnancy. 1 in 4 men can also experience post-partum. Read more from an interview with a Connecticut delivery nurse by clicking here. 2. MA Drug Step Down: United’s step therapy program for...
Oct 10, 2018 | Labs, Physician Fee Schedule
As part of the Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) legislation that directed an overhaul of Medicare’s clinical lab fee schedule, Congress required the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) to produce an annual report on Medicare lab payments. In the latest report, the OIG paints a picture of lab payments in 2017, showing lab payments as very stable and highly concentrated among a few tests. Click to read more.
Oct 9, 2018 | Inpatient Rehab (IRF)
The HHS OIG recently released a report that audited Medicare payments to Inpatient Rehab Facilities (IRFs). This brief highlights the report’s findings and recommendations for CMS. Click to read more.
Oct 8, 2018 | Medicare Advantage, Part D, Payers
CMS recently announced that it projects MA enrollment will grow by 11.5% in 2019, which would be greater than the 8%-9% annual growth rate over the past 10 years, and much greater than expected overall 3% growth in the Medicare population. CMS also projects lower average monthly premiums for MA plans in 2019, as well as lower Part D premiums. Click to read more.
Oct 4, 2018 | BRG Publications
Over the last few months, our team has worked to look back at the past 18 months of deal activity, while reaching out to the investment community to understand what the future holds. We have compiled the results of that work in our first annual BRG Investment Index, a summary of past activity, future investor interest, and current and future investor concerns. We appreciate the involvement of those who participated. Click to read more.
