News Headlines from Washington
CMS Publishes Hospital Outpatient Rule
Medicare payments to hospital outpatient departments will rise by an average of 4.6 percent in 2005, including payment increases for a variety of preventive tests, according to the recently published proposed rule published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
The rule incorporates provisions for hospital outpatient departments required by Congress in the new Medicare prescription drug law, including a free physical for new Medicare beneficiaries. Payments to urban hospitals will rise 4.5 percent, while payments to rural institutions will increase 5.3 percent.
The deadline for comments on the rule is October 8, and a final rule is scheduled to be published by November 1. The payment increase is effective January 1, 2005. For more information about the hospital outpatient rule, see the ASH Web site or CMS at www.cms.hhs.gov/providers/hopps/2005p/1427-p.pdf.
Medicare E-Prescribing Rule Expected
Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson announced that federal health officials expect to issue Medicare electronic prescribing standards in 2004 - earlier than anticipated - as part of an initiative aimed at moving from a paper-based health care system to an electronic health care system over the next decade. The proposed e-prescribing rules will implement provisions of the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) prior to the rollout of the Medicare prescription drug benefit in 2006. The law allows for Medicare to pay higher reimbursements to participating physicians who use e-prescribing in accord with standards outlined by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It also authorizes federal grants to aid physicians in implementing electronic prescription drug programs that meet the standards.
E-prescribing is included in the outline of a plan that federal health officials unveiled on July 21 as part of a Bush Administration initiative to carry out the President's goal of enhancing health technology and providing Americans with electronic medical records within a decade. The outline is detailed in a report, The Decade of Health Information Technology: Delivering Consumer-centric and Information-Rich Health Care available at www.hhs.gov/onchit/framework/hitframework.pdf.
Senate Approves Medical Error Legislation That Would Establish Voluntary Reporting System
Before leaving for its August recess, the Senate approved legislation (S. 720) by unanimous consent aimed at improving patient safety through the creation of a voluntary medical errors reporting system. The House of Representatives had approved its patient safety bill (H.R. 663) in March of 2003. The Senate's action clears the way for a House-Senate conference to merge similar patient safety bills. Both bills would create a voluntary errors reporting system and establish federal evidentiary privilege and confidentiality protections in order to promote error reporting by health care providers. The bills stipulate that the Secretary of Health and Human Services would certify a number of private and public organizations to act as patient safety organizations. These "PSOs" would analyze data on medical errors, determine their causes, and develop and disseminate evidence-based information to providers to help them implement changes to improve patient safety. It is not clear whether sufficient time remains in the Congressional calendar to complete action on this legislation.
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Take Action: ASH Launches New Advocacy Site on the ASH Web Site; Expands Hematology Grassroots Network
ASH is pleased to announce the launch of a new site on the ASH Web site devoted to hematology advocacy. The ASH Advocacy Center is designed to help advance the mission of the Society by providing a voice for individual hematologists when federal laws and regulations are being developed and when government programs are being funded. The Advocacy Center is also designed to make member involvement as quick and easy as possible.
At the ASH Advocacy Center, members will find background information on policy issues that affect the hematology community. This will assist members in becoming actively engaged in the legislative and regulatory process. Sample letters and/or talking points posted on the Advocacy Center will serve as a guide for communicating with members of Congress and the Administration - sending a letter to your Congressional representative now will be only a click away.
In addition, at the ASH Advocacy Center members will find a congressional locator to help determine their members of Congress as well as links to the latest news concerning ASH's government relations and practice issues, ASH policy statements, ASH testimony and correspondence, and information about federal research grant opportunities.
Current advocacy campaigns posted on the ASH Advocacy Center include:
- Encouraging support of the Sickle Cell Treatment Act
- Supporting reauthorization of the National Bone Marrow Donor Registry Program
- Supporting stem cell research
- Comments on new Medicare physician reimbursement rules
- Supporting increased NIH funding
Please join ASH in taking action to advance the interests of the hematology community. Visit ASH's online Advocacy Center and send an e-mail or letter to Congressional representatives on any or all of the sample letters that are listed. Members need only to enter their zip code to find their members of Congress.
For further questions about the ASH Advocacy Center, contact Mila Becker, Director of Government Relations & Practice at 202-776-0544.
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