The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued two final rules that NTOCC has commented on earlier in the year. The first updates payment policies and payment rates for services furnished under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for calendar year 2016, and the second is regarding the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting Programs.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a proposed rule this morning that would require all hospitals and home health agencies to develop a written discharge plan for every inpatient and specific categories of outpatients within 24 hours of admission. This is the first step in the implementation of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act which NTOCC supported in 2014.