Announcement/Press release

File Downloads / Links

Biden-Harris Administration to Make First Offer for Drug Price Negotiation Program, Launches New Resource Hub to Help People Access Lower-Cost Drugs

On February 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) sent initial offers to the participating drug companies of the first ten prescription drugs selected for negotiation in the first cycle of the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program. CMS announced the ten initial drugs selected for the first cycle of Medicare drug price negotiation on August 29, 2023, and on October 3, HHS announced that the drug companies of all 10 selected drugs agreed to participate in negotiations with Medicare. Negotiations will continue over the next several months, with negotiations ending by August 1, 2024...

Short URL: http://www.advancingstates.org/node/75320

File Downloads / Links

CMS Releases Proposed Payment Updates for 2025 Medicare Advantage and Part D Programs

On January 31, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Calendar Year (CY) 2025 Advance Notice for the Medicare Advantage (MA) and Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Programs that would update payment policies for these programs. The Advance Notice proposes annual updates to MA payment growth rates and changes to the MA and Part D payment methodologies to improve payment accuracy. For calendar year 2025, CMS proposes an MA payment increase of 3.7 percent, or over $16 billion; however, the agency also proposes a 3.9% risk coding adjustment. The CY 2025 Advance Notice also includes the continued phase-in of the updated MA risk adjustment model and updates to the calculation of growth rates related to medical education...

Short URL: http://www.advancingstates.org/node/75287

File Downloads / Links

Participation Continues to Grow in CMS’ Accountable Care Organization Initiatives in 2024

On January 29, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced increased participation in CMS’ accountable care organization (ACO) initiatives in 2024. ACOs are groups of doctors, hospitals, and other health care professionals that work together to provide high-quality, coordinated service and health care, improve health outcomes, and manage costs. CMS announced that 19 newly formed ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program) are participating in a new, permanent payment option beginning in 2024 that is enabling these ACOs to receive more than $20 million in advance investment payments (AIPs) to care for people who are medically underserved. An additional 50 ACOs are new to the program in 2024...

Short URL: http://www.advancingstates.org/node/75283

File Downloads / Links

CMS Announces New Actions to Help Hospitals Meet Obligations under EMTALA

On January 22, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that, together with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), it will launch a series of actions to educate the public about their rights to emergency medical care and to help support efforts of hospitals to meet their obligations under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). This comprehensive plan was developed in response to a growing number of inquiries from patients and providers to CMS about how they can ensure that federal obligations were being met...

Short URL: http://www.advancingstates.org/node/75281

File Downloads / Links

Department of Labor Releases Proposed Regulation on Retirement Plans and Automatic Portability Transactions when Employees Change Jobs

On January 18, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced that its Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA) released a proposed regulation on automatic portability transactions under SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022. The goal of automatic portability transactions is to help workers keep track of their retirement savings accounts and improve retirement security by reducing cash-outs when they change jobs. According to the most recent annual Form 5500 data, there are an estimated 635,000 defined contribution plans in the United States, covering an estimated 86.6 million participants with account balances totaling $9.3 trillion in assets...

Short URL: http://www.advancingstates.org/node/75246

File Downloads / Links

FEMA Reforms Disaster Assistance Program to Help Survivors Recover Faster

On January 20, FEMA’s Office of Disability Integration and Coordination announced updates to their Individual Assistance Program that will help them markedly shorten the disaster cycle for people with disabilities and other access and functional needs through greater flexibility and streamlined processes that reflect the people-first intent in their work. With the increased frequency of extreme weather events fueled by climate change, these updates will provide survivors with faster and easier access to resources they need after disasters. FEMA developed these new forms of assistance based on direct feedback from survivors and in response to the threats the nation faces due to our changing climate...

Short URL: http://www.advancingstates.org/node/75243

File Downloads / Links

OMB Releases Digital Accessibility Guidance to Ensure All Americans Have Ability to Access Critical Government Resources

The United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently released updated guidance requiring federal agencies to improve their digital accessibility for people with disabilities. Currently, 61 million Americans live with a disability, but nearly half of the most popular Federal Government websites are not fully accessible to all Americans. The new guidance establishes the required leadership, goals, and a renewed focus to improve digital accessibility across the federal government...

Short URL: http://www.advancingstates.org/node/75223

File Downloads / Links

Delivering on the Promise of AI to Improve Health Outcomes

On December 14, leading healthcare providers and payers announced voluntary commitments on the safe, secure, and trustworthy use and purchase of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in health care. These voluntary commitments build on ongoing work by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the October 30th AI Executive Order, and earlier commitments that the White House received from 15 leading AI companies to develop models responsibly. Twenty-eight businesses signed the commitment, including Boston Children’s Hospital, CVS Health, Emory Healthcare, Geisinger, Houston Methodist, Mass General Brigham, Rush University System for Health, Tufts Medicine, and WellSpan Health....

Short URL: http://www.advancingstates.org/node/75166

File Downloads / Links

Development and Maintenance of Direct Support Worker Registries: Benefits of Utilization and Enhanced Federal Funding Availability

The Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) has released an Informational Bulletin stressing the pivotal role of worker registries in mitigating the nationwide shortage of direct support workers, particularly within Medicaid-covered home and community-based services (HCBS). The bulletin underscores that these registries, serving as a vital link between service recipients and qualified workers, can significantly improve beneficiary access to essential services. Emphasizing the importance of balancing safety concerns with beneficiary choice, CMS encourages states to educate both workers and beneficiaries about the voluntary or mandatory nature of registry participation....

Short URL: http://www.advancingstates.org/node/75163

File Downloads / Links

HHS Finalizes Rule to Advance Health IT Interoperability and Algorithm Transparency

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), recently finalized its “Health Data, Technology, and Interoperability: Certification Program Updates, Algorithm Transparency, and Information Sharing (HTI-1) rule.” This follows the release of the HTI-1 proposed rule in April 2023....

Short URL: http://www.advancingstates.org/node/75162

Pages

Subscribe to RSS - Announcement/Press release