CMS Releases Updated Rules on COVID-19 Vaccine and Therapeutics Proposed Rule On October 28, CMS finalized a fourth COVID-19 Interim Final Rule with Comment, which provides coverage and payment details for COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics. Medicare will cover the cost of COVID-19 vaccines and their administration and will waive out-of-pocket costs for both traditional fee-for-service b...

CMS Releases Updated Rules on Payer Transparency and Pricing On October 29, CMS finalized its Transparency in Coverage rule. The final rule is part of a larger effort to ensure price transparency across the healthcare sector. The Transparency in Coverage rule moves to require significant public disclosures of the prices of items and services by private...

New CPT Code for Costs Related to COVID-19 and Advocacy to Urge Payers to Provide Coverage On November 7, the AMA Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel announced the approval of CPT code 99072 to be used to report the additional supplies, materials, and clinical staff time over and above the practice expense(s) included in...

Study Published on Medicare Utilization and Spending During COVID-19 Crisis On October 8, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services published a study on Medicare utilization and spending in 2020 to analyze utilization and spending trends during the COVID-19 Emergency. The study, which was conducted by the Assistant Secretary for Policy and Evaluation Office...