Turn your attention to HHS from Independence Avenue as Congress struggles to pass this year’s health care bill. It’s going to be a packed year.
Important reasons: Congress and HHS often work in tandem. Even if Congress stalls, HHS will keep going.
- Brian Miller, Adjunct Fellow of the American Enterprise Institute, told Axios:
detail: 182 policies Included in the agency’s latest regulatory agenda. Future plans are as follows.
1) Implementation of anti-inflation laws: Drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries changed significantly last year. now, Implementation Work begins.
- CMS will announce The first 10 drugs selected for Medicare’s drug bargaining program by Sept. 1.
- Prior to that, the agency will open a public comment period for feedback on the price negotiation program, negotiation data elements, and minor biotechnology exceptions to the exchange of negotiation offers and counteroffers.
- “It’s important that the public know when and how they can raise their voices about these important efforts,” Medicare Center Director Meena Seshamani said in a call with reporters last week.
2) Payback for 340B: HHS must figure out Refund method Hospitals paid as much as $10 billion for drugs purchased through federal discount drug programs from 2018 to 2022.
- The agency plans to release a proposed roadmap for refunds in April as well.
3) Medicare Advantage Audit: The regulator plans to publish a final rule by February 1 on audits that check data used for risk adjustments.
- In 2018, CMS proposed an audit method that would allow Medicare Advantage payments to be recovered from 2011, but the rule has been repeatedly delayed.
- Insurers and policy watchers are eagerly awaiting whether regulators will finalize plans proposed years ago, said Tricia Neumann, executive director of the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Medicare Policy Program. increase.
- CMS may also finalize recent proposals to strengthen marketing practices for Medicare Advantage. Streamlined pre-approval.
4) Private Insurance: The debate over how to handle sudden medical bills isn’t going away any time soon.
- Other regulations implementing the no-surprise law, including a high-description element of benefits, are likely to be announced around August. CMS Information request Regarding the September policy.
- Lawsuits Pending in the Eastern District of Texas Surprise Claim Arbitration Process Depending on the outcome, it could also mean new regulation, said Zachary Barron, associate director of the Health Policy and Law Initiative at the O’Neill Institute in Georgetown.
- HHS is also expected to propose the following rules short term insurance plan Religious exemption to coverage of preventive services.tougher non-discrimination protection Private insurance may also be finalized soon.
5) Emerging technology migration scope: Seek and make breakthroughs in short-term Medicare coverage rules proposed by the Biden administration Medical equipment Around April.
- The Trump administration finalized its Medicare coverage policy for innovative technologies just days before the Biden administration took over.Biden administration discarded it laterthe administration said it would revisit the issue in the future.
- Members of Parliament on both sides of the aisle backed the Biden administration Reissue the policy. In October, Senators Maggie Hassan and Todd Young led 14 of his colleagues in asking officials to come up with a proposal by the end of 2022.
What we see: Proposed changes to oversight of hospital accrediting agencies and proposed new alternative payment models from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation.
