On Friday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule for hospitals paid under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Acute Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS). In addition to setting proposed payment rates for hospital inpatient services, the rule updates and lays out a framework for implementation of several programs aimed at improving quality of care including: the new Hospital-Acquired Conditions Reduction Program, which would begin in 2015, the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) and Readmissions Reduction program.

Today, the Senate Finance Committee voted to approve President Obama’s nominee, Marilyn Tavenner, to oversee the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Fourteen bipartisan members of the panel gave voice vote approval to her nomination. Up next, Tavenner must be confirmed by the full Senate; however that vote has not been scheduled, and the timeline remains unclear.

Today, NTOCC along with several other care transition stakeholder groups sent a letter to Marilyn Tavenner, Acting Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), expressing concerns about the implications of the 40% funding cut to the Community-based Care Transitions Program (CCTP) enacted by the Continuing Appropriations Act of 2013.

Today, President Obama unveiled his $3.3 trillion Budget proposal for fiscal year (FY) 2014 that aims to reduce the deficit by $1.8 trillion over the next ten years through a combination of mandatory and discretionary program spending cuts, coupled with higher revenues largely through tax increases aimed at the wealthy.

Yesterday, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) announced 84 health care professionals that will become members of PCORI’s first four advisory panels. The panels include Addressing Disparities; Assessment of Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment Options; Improving Healthcare Systems; and Patient Engagement. There is a breadth of representation across the healthcare sector on these panels, ranging from clinicians, experts in scientific and health services research, policymakers and industry to patients, caregivers and patient advocates.