On October 1, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) initiated a series of penalties on U.S. hospitals under the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program for CY 2020. Overall, Medicare cut payments to 2,583 hospitals under the initiative, which seeks to reduce the number of patients who return for a second stay within a month....

On September 29, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that aims to empower patients to make informed decisions about their care as they are discharged from acute care into post-acute care (PAC), a process called “discharge planning.”  In addition to improving quality by improving these care transitions, the rule...

On September 26, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issues a final rule on The Omnibus Burden Reduction (Conditions of Participation) Final Rule. The intent of the rule is to strengthen patient safety by removing unnecessary, obsolete, or excessively burdensome health regulations on hospitals and other healthcare providers. The rule seeks to advance CMS’s Patients...

On Thursday, October 3, President Trump issued an Executive Order on “Protecting and Improving Medicare for our Nation’s Seniors.”  While the Executive Order does not provide legislative or regulatory specifications, it raises policy areas that the President believes need to be addressed to improve the Medicare program. The Executive Order aims to expand enrollment in Medicare Advantage...