The COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) challenged hospital bed capacity severely limiting access to critical medical services in patients’ time of need. In response, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) collaborated with outside experts to develop what
Lessons from CMS’ Acute Hospital Care at Home Initiative
Medicare Part D
Listing of blog posts tagged with Medicare Part D
- Blog
Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model to End after Calendar Year 2025: Excess Costs Associated with the Model Unable to be Addressed by Policy Changes
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is terminating the Medicare Advantage (MA) Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) model at the end of 2025 due to the model’s substantial and unmitigable costs to the Medicare Trust Funds. Excess costs to the Medicare Trust Funds of this magnitude — $2.3 billion in Calendar Year (CY) 2021 and $2.2 billion in CY 2022 associated with the VBID model, based on the prior and forthcoming evaluation reports, respectively — are unprecedented in CMS Innovation Center models. Additional analyses of model performance and policy options demonstrated that Read more about Medicare Advantage Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model to End after Calendar Year 2025: Excess Costs Associated with the Model Unable to be Addressed by Policy Changes - Blog
Important New Changes to Improve Access to Behavioral Health in Medicare
As we emerge from the COVID-19 public health emergency, it is increasingly clear that we must swiftly improve access to effective mental health and substance use disorder (collectively called behavioral health) treatment in order to meet the growing demand for such services. For older Americans and people with disabilities enrolled in Medicare, many individuals have felt the effects of worsening depression and anxiety or have struggled with the use of substances like opioids or alcohol. As doctors, we have seen first-hand how behavioral health treatment can improve the health and well-being of Read more about Important New Changes to Improve Access to Behavioral Health in Medicare - Blog
CMS Drug Spending Dashboards and the Inflation Reduction Act
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the annual update to the Drug Spending Dashboards with data for 2021. These dashboards are interactive, online tools that allow consumers, researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders to understand changes in spending on prescription drugs in the Medicare Part B, Medicare Part D and Medicaid programs. Today’s release represents the seventh annual update to the Drug Spending Dashboards. Since the first release of the dashboards in 2015, CMS has continued to enhance and expand the dashboards to provide greater transparency into Read more about CMS Drug Spending Dashboards and the Inflation Reduction Act - Blog
Addressing Rural Health Inequities in Medicare
Approximately 61 million Americans live in rural Tribal, and geographically isolated communities across the United States. These communities often experience significant health inequities. Compared to urban Americans, rural Americans are more likely to have heart disease, stroke, cancer, unintentional injuries, suicide risk, and chronic lung disease, and have higher death rates from COVID-19. As clinicians, we have seen these rural health disparities first-hand. One example is a patient who lived far from a health care facility, didn’t have a usual source of care, and didn’t tell anyone about Read more about Addressing Rural Health Inequities in Medicare - Blog
Strengthening Behavioral Health Care for People with Medicare
Note: This blog is an updated version from the July 7, 2022 blog . This updated blog reflects the new behavioral health policies in CMS’ finalized CY 2023 Physician Fee Schedule and Outpatient Prospective Payment System rules. COVID-19 has exacerbated the nation’s struggle with mental health and substance use disorders (collectively called “behavioral health conditions”), fueling a full-blown crisis. For some Americans during the pandemic, this has meant feeling depressed and hopeless, making it challenging for them to perform everyday tasks. For older Americans and people with disabilities Read more about Strengthening Behavioral Health Care for People with Medicare - Blog
Strengthening Behavioral Health Care for People with Medicare
Note: CMS published a subsequent blog on November 1, 2022, that reflects the behavioral health policies in CMS’ finalized CY 2023 Physician Fee Schedule and Outpatient Prospective Payment System rules. Read the November 1, 2022 blog. COVID-19 has exacerbated the nation’s struggle with mental health and substance use disorders (collectively called “behavioral health conditions”), fueling a full-blown crisis. For some Americans during the pandemic, this has meant feeling depressed and hopeless, making it challenging for them to perform everyday tasks. For older Americans and people with Read more about Strengthening Behavioral Health Care for People with Medicare