The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 21.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

The White House

The administration has announced new steps to protect Americans and help communities and hospitals battle the COVID-19 omicron variant.  The major parts of this initiative include:

• Increasing support for hospitals by deploying 1000 Department of Defense medical personnel to hospitals during January and February and federal medical personnel to some states immediately; expanding hospital capacity; providing support to states to help hospitals create and license more beds; deploying hundreds of ambulances and emergency medical teams to transport patients to available hospital beds; and providing critical supplies, including supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile and ventilators, to states.
• Ensuring access to free testing, including by launching new federal testing sites; distributing free rapid tests to Americans after purchasing 500 million such tests, with delivery expected beginning in January; and employing the Defense Production Act to accelerate test production.
• Expanding capacity to administer COVID-19 vaccines, including by establishing new pop-up vaccination clinics, deploying additional vaccinators, giving flexibility to surge pharmacy teams, and continuing to scale pharmacy capacity.

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Thursday, December 16.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

Provider Relief Fund

• HHS’s Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is releasing $9 billion in phase 4 Provider Relief Fund grants.  Payments will average $58,000 for what HHS is calling “small” providers, $289,000 for medium providers, and $1.7 million for large providers.  Learn more about the release of these funds from this HHS news release and go here for an explanation of how the agency calculated the payments.  The remainder of Phase 4 funding is expected to be distributed in January.
• HRSA has updated its FAQ for its provider relief programs:  the Provider Relief Fund and American Rescue Plan rural payments.  The updated FAQ includes new information about reporting on mergers and acquisitions, reporting patient metrics, reporting on state and federal tax credits, and more.  The 12 new and modified questions, all dated 12/9/2021, can be found on pages 3, 10, 14, 15, 18, 34, and 36 of the updated Provider Relief Fund FAQ.

The White House

• The Biden administration has issued an executive order on “Transforming

The government agency that advises Congress on Medicare payment matters met publicly in Washington, D.C. last week.

During the virtual meeting, members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission discussed and debated future Medicare payments for:

• hospital inpatient services
• hospital outpatient services
• physician services
• ambulatory surgical center services
• outpatient dialysis
• hospice care
• skilled nursing facilities
• home health
• inpatient rehabilitation facilities
• long-term-care hospitals

MedPAC is an independent congressional agency that advises Congress on issues involving Medicare.  While its recommendations are not binding on either Congress or the administration, MedPAC is highly influential in governing circles and its recommendations often find their way into legislation, regulations, and new public policy.

For a look at the agenda for the two-day meeting and to find the presentations for each of these subjects, go here.

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The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 9.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

Update on Efforts to Delay Medicare Sequestration Cuts

The Senate has advanced S 610, a bill that would:

• Extend the COVID-19-driven moratorium on the long-time two percent Medicare sequestration until the end of March 2022, reducing that sequestration from two percent to one percent from the beginning of April through the end of June 2022.
• Avoid the additional four percent sequestration necessitated by federal PAYGO rules by moving the additional spending PAYGO cuts need to offset onto the federal balance sheet for FY 2023.
• Include a procedural provision that would enable the Senate to pass legislation to lift the debt ceiling with only 50 votes (addressing the debt ceiling will require separate legislation).
• Reduce the 3.75 percent cut in Medicare evaluation and management rates, which Congress halted last year but that was scheduled to resume on January 1, to a 0.75 percent cut.
• Delay certain Medicare laboratory payment cuts.
• Delay the launch of the Radiation Oncology Model until 2023.

Final passage of this bill is expected by the end …

The following is the latest health policy news from the federal government as of 2:45 p.m. on Monday, December 6.  Some of the language used below is taken directly from government documents.

The White House

• The White House has published a plan outlining the steps the administration will take to combat the delta and omicron variants of COVID-19 in the coming months. The major components of this plan are boosters for all adults, vaccinations for children, expanded free home testing, stronger public health protocols for international travel, workplace protections, rapid response teams to help battle rising cases, and supplying treatment pills to help prevent hospitalizations and death.  Go here to see a fact sheet describing the plan.  White House officials also held a background briefing for the press on this plan.  Learn more from a transcript of that call.
• The White House has posted a transcript of the December 3 press briefing given by its COVID-19 response team and public officials. Go here for the slides presented during the briefing.
• The White House has released a new national HIV/AIDS strategy. Go here to see the White House announcement and go here to see the strategy itself.

Centers