Medicare & Medicaid
Hospices that fail to meet quality reporting requirements receive a 2 percent reduction to their payments.
Announcement comes less than two months after a scathing report from the Office of the Inspector General showing skyrocketing Medicare Part D drug spending.
Final rule would also expand drug pricing competition to drive down costs and eliminate controversial questions regarding opioids from the hospital patient experience survey.
The trend has broad policy implications as many states consider work requirements for Medicaid eligibility.
While they agree with certain proposals, they take issue with others, as stated in letters the groups sent this week to HHS Secretary Alex Azar.
Health and Human Services officials said that regulations such as Stark Law and HIPAA are acting as roadblocks on the path to value-based care.
The program outperforms the fee-for-service version when it comes to higher rates of preventive screenings, fewer avoidable hospitalizations and fewer emergency room visits.
CMS is also removing 34 process measures from MIPS as these measures are topped out, meaning physicians are already performing highly in these areas.
Simplified durable medical equipment bidding will increase access for patients, competition and affordability, CMS says.
After adjustments for race, poverty level and other factors, plans serving the highest proportions of disadvantaged populations improved considerably in the rankings.