Tag Archive for: Healthcare

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Resolution of the “sustainable growth rate” issue

By Mary Holloway Richard.

medicare

Senate Passes the bill repealing Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (“SGR”) formula just in time to avoid the looming cuts (21%) to physician payments.

Congressional members are purportedly patting themselves on the back as the bill goes to the President who has given assurances that he will sign it.

In the past weeks we have discussed possible amendments, but none of the amendments are included in the final legislation approved by the Senate.  The bill extends the Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”) for two years.  The bill also provides physician incentives sure to impact both reimbursement and physician contracting include incentives to shift more patients to risk-based payment models.  For physicians who are successful in this effort, as interpreted by CMS, the reimbursement will increase in 2019.

Approximately one-third of the cost of this package is offset by financial cuts to providers and increased costs to wealthier Medicare patients.  The bill also includes additional funding for community health centers and a six-month delay in the enforcement of the payment policy for short inpatient stays known as the “two midnights” rule.

Mary Holloway Richard is recognized as one of the pioneers in health care law in Oklahoma. She has represented institutional and non-institutional providers of health services, as well as patients and their families. She also has significant experience in representing providers in regulatory matters.

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(UPDATE) What does all of the talk in the media about the “SGR” mean for physicians?

By Mary Holloway Richard.

(Updated 4/14/15)

What does all of the talk in the media about the “SGR” mean for physicians?

One of the important issues identified in the health care industry “crisis” and reform is the cost of providing services.  Focus has been on shifting payment from charges for visits and procedures to reimbursement according to certain metrics such as outcome and quality.  In addition, a ceiling on physician reimbursement has been much debated.  The Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) included the Medicare sustainable growth rate (“SGR”) formula for doing just that, although the SGR was actually created as part of the 1997 deficit reduction law designed to contain federal spending  by tying physician payments to an economic metric or growth target.

On Tuesday, March 24, 2015, Democrats and Republicans revealed the result of their negotiation and cooperation to offer an alternative to Medicare’s SGR formula.  The proposal calls for repeal of the SGR formula.  House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) have arrived at this compromise to strengthen the financial picture for Medicare and to end the continuing threat of payment cuts to physicians.  According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, although medical school applications are up slightly since 2011, the United States faces a physician shortage of between 46,000 and 90,000 by 2015.  www.aamc.org/newsroom/aamcstat/,a=427828.  The economic incentives to the professional are an integral component in stabilizing the health care system in this country.  The House overwhelmingly approved the proposal on Thursday, March 26, 2015.

What does the SGR mean to physicians?  There is still great divergence between the Boehner (repeal Washington’s most famous gimmick) and Pelosi (Medicare payments for doctor services to seniors facilitating continuation of physician-patient relationship) perspectives.

What does the bipartisan proposal mean to physicians?  This will halt the cut that was to be implemented on April 1, 2015.  When the ACA was signed five years ago, that seemed like a long time away but was nonetheless worrisome.  It puts in place a 21.2% reduction in Medicare payments making it virtually impossible for many providers to support the operations of their practices or clinics.

This proposal is very similar to the one proposed in 2014 , and it includes a system of rewarding physicians based upon quality standards rather than output or number of services provided and fosters a focus on coordination of care, prevention and quality and key cost containment strategies.  All of these elements are part of a new accountability that is the cornerstone for allowing payment increases for doctors for the next five years during this period of transition.  In addition, if approved by the Senate, the bipartisan proposal would extend the Children’s Health Insurance Program (“CHIP”) with full funding through September 30, 2017.  It also provides for $7.2 billion funding for community health centers.  The cost of the House package is $200 billion

On Friday, March 27, 2015, the Senate adjourned without approving the Doc fix.  It apparently will take up the issue upon its return in mid-April.  In the meantime, CMS is poised to delay processing provider claims as of April 1, 2015, when the 21.2% cut was to go into effect.  However, CMS is warning that the cut will go into effect if the Senate fails to pass an SGR fix by April 15.  One complication may exist in the form of legislation introduced by a bipartisan Senate team, Senators Cardin (D-MD) and Collins (R-ME), to permanently repeal the caps on how much the program spends on rehabilitation therapy.  This unresolved issue may arise as an amendment to the legislation to be considered after the break and provides a reminder of how single issues or senators can ultimately frustrate the passage of legislation that has support from both parties.  Others in the Senate are critical that spending cuts will offset only a portion of the costs.  Conservatives have characterized this element of the plan as irresponsible.  The AARP is focused on increased costs to Medicare beneficiaries and will continue to lobby for changes to lower these costs.

Democrats may want amendments to extend the CHIP program four years, to remove the Hyde Amendment (abortion-related language), and to repeal the Medicare therapy cap.  Any amendments would, of course, send the legislation back through the House, and this appears to be an unattractive alternative to all concerned because of the remarkable support for this resolution from both parties.  A perhaps more significant complication is presented by the report issued last week by the Office of the Actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) indicating that physician payments in which the 0.5% increases in Medicare payments over the next four years would come to a halt in 2020.  In that year a two-tiered system is phased in which is designed to encourage physicians to shift greater numbers of patients into risk-based models.  For physicians continuing to work within the traditional payment system, but who are scoring well on the quality metrics, remuneration will be awarded from a separate appropriation.  After 2024, the alternative payment track would increase annually by 0.75% which will be three times greater than the rates of other physicians. CMS is predicting that 2024 is the time when there will be a shortfall and payments will lag behind inflation.

On the one hand, Congress is fed up with required annual intervention for the past seventeen years to avoid scheduled cuts to physicians.  On the other hand, Congress is forced to rely on estimates to predict costs which places the federal government at risk of future payments not keeping up with the either the chosen formulae or with inflation.

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(UPDATE) A look at the controversial Affordable Care Act on its fifth anniversary

By Mary Holloway Richard.

(Updated 4/7/15)
President Obama has taken the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) to characterize continued activities on the Hill to repeal it as renegade special interest activities. The ACA continues to be a subject of debate both in terms of its accomplishments—how many are newly covered and how much will be saved—and in terms of its public support.

While the Associated Press reported on March 23, 2015, that public support was down 5% since its passage, as one who daily writes and advises health care clients on matters related to the ACA, I can say with certainty that the depth and breadth of increased regulation spawned by the ACA are changing the nature of the system.

Those changes include responsive movement toward integrated health systems, mergers and affiliations; transition from quantity- to quality-based reimbursement; the relaxation of HIPAA standards in some respects and its tightening in others in the context of EHR transformation; and increased direct and indirect costs to employers as a result of new responsibilities.

Nearly fifty changes have been made to the ACA as of March 2, 2015, and this suggests a continuing need for providers, employers and business owners to remain informed and responsive to the moving regulatory compliance target.

On Monday, March 30 the Supreme Court rejected a new challenge to the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”)  that targeted the Independent Payment Advisory Board (“IPAB”), a 15-member government panel which has been characterized as a “death panel” because of its intended role in cutting Medicare costs.   The IPAB was to convene when the target growth rate for Medicare (3.03%) is exceeded.  However, the growth rate is 1.15% according to CMS, and so the administration has not nominated any panel members.  In declining to take up the case, the Supreme Court left undisturbed the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco dismissal of the lawsuit. The proponents of the ACA are calling this a win.  Coons v. Lew, No. 14-525.   Certiorari was denied by the United States Supreme Court on March 30, 2015.

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Healthcare cost-cutting trend ties money to results

By Mary Holloway Richard

healthcare-shutterstock-02The trend toward decreasing costs in healthcare has seized upon value-based care – tying physician compensation to performance and outcome measures. These measures are also being used in contract negotiations with third party payors and healthcare plans.

Counsel for institutional and non-institutional providers are at the table providing advice about a number of important contractual terms and their ramifications including appropriate and measurable metrics for calculating bonuses and penalties and, if shared savings are at issue, how they should be split. For those who have been involved in negotiations of traditional fee-for-service contracts, this will seem like a fundamental change. It may also seem like a change that narrows the potential for disputes.

However, numerous issues will continue to be important to providers. For example:

  • Are the metrics used as incentives or penalties?
  • Are the selected benchmarks easily measurable and attainable?
  • Do they raise regulatory issues such as potentially impacting volume in an unacceptable way or spawn any other results that could be construed to be anticompetitive?

While these questions have yet to be answered by Oklahoma courts, we can look to decisions from other states and consider ourselves forewarned as to the nuances and potential pitfalls in negotiating and drafting these terms.

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The future for hospitals

By Mary Holloway Richard, Of Counsel

doctorIn a recent article in Modern Healthcare, Beth Kutscher identifies a rosier outlook for propriety hospitals than for not-for-profit facilities.

Some of those proprietaries are investor-owned chains, and an important part of their secret of financial health is their access to and reliance upon greater options for marketing services, economies of scale, and other cost saving programs.

Financially positive trends have come on the wings of the Affordable Care Act’s elevated patient volumes, better payor mix and declining expenses associated with bad debts. The proprietaries are concerned with stock prices and earnings and, like a family preparing for continued hard times, they actively pursue all possible ways to decrease expenses, including refinancing higher interest debt.

In largely rural states like Oklahoma, efforts to keep community hospitals alive include shopping for buyers and affiliating with stable hospital systems. However, rural hospitals owned by proprietaries, and even hospitals owned by not-for profit systems, are being taken off the block awaiting a more attractive market.

It is true that we witnessed the acquisition by Community Health Systems, one of the largest publicly-traded companies in the country, of Health Management Associates last year. But even so, CHS may now be eschewing large acquisitions and mergers in favor of other alternatives for financial stabilization.

In healthcare as in other industries, the proprietary sector offers important motivation for the not-for-profits.

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