Today, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on the Medicare post-acute care payment system including payments relating to Home Health Agencies (HHA), Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRF), and Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCH). Jonathan Blum, Deputy Administrator and Director, Center of Medicare, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and Mark Miller, Executive Director, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), were the subcommittee’s two witnesses.

Yesterday, Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee announced that they would hold a hearing on bipartisan proposals to reform the Medicare post-acute care payment system on Friday, June 14th at 9:30am ET. The hearing will focus on payment reforms relating to Home Health Agencies (HHA), Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRF), and Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCH), and of particular note for NTOCC, will highlight the lack of guidelines for placing patients in post-acute facilities when they are discharged from hospitals.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today released a Funding Opportunity Announcement for round two of the Health Care Innovation Awards. Under this announcement, up to $1 billion dollars will be awarded to applicants from across the country who propose new payment and service delivery models that will deliver better care and lower costs for Medicare, Medicaid, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollees. Funded by the Affordable Care Act and administered by the CMS Innovation Center, the second round of the Health Care Innovation Awards will support public and private organizations in four defined areas that have a high likelihood of driving health care system transformation and delivering better outcomes for Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries.

Today, the Senate confirmed President Obama’s nominee, Marilyn Tavenner, to oversee the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) by a vote of 91 to 7.

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.

Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its fifth round of funding for 20 additional participants in the Community-based Care Transitions Program (CCTP). Authorized by the Affordable Care Act, the CCTP provides funding to test models for improving care transitions for Medicare patients at high risk for readmission by using services to manage patients’ transitions effectively.