The due diligence on the ESRD payment cut
Asking dialysis patients to influence the outcome of the proposed payment cut unleashed written comments to CMS that offer few solutions
View ArticleRenal community comments to CMS on QIP, proposed cuts to ESRD bundle
Some of the formal responses submitted to CMS by the renal community regarding the QIP and the proposed cuts to the ESRD bundle
View ArticleJudging the value of quality measures and the quality of care in the ESRD...
While the 12% cut to the bundled payment has taken center stage in the review of CMS' proposed rule, the planned changes to the ESRD QIP have also gathered some attention
View ArticleChallenges for dialysis facility medical directors and impact on patient care
Medical directors can draw on their skill set for managing chronic disease by helping clinics balance diverse patient needs within an environment of diminishing resources
View ArticleCMS says final rule for ESRD payment system to come in November
The agency said it is still assessing the impact the partial government shutdown had on the completion of calendar year 2014 Medicare fee for service payment regulations
View ArticleWhere Medicare and the ESRD Program are headed
The special public policy session assembled by the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week organizers took the packed audience on a roller coaster of viewpoints, defining how kidney patients are...
View ArticleSDO perspective on the bundle cuts: Dialysis patients face fewer options
I am a nephrologist from Lincoln, Neb. and frustrated with my country’s approach to health care financing. Current policy will create a two-tiered system of health care access. I am concerned about my...
View ArticleLDO perspective on the bundle cuts: Consider the impact on the most...
Dialysis patients are the most at risk from the extreme cuts proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. When reimbursement for 80% of patients who rely on Medicare is below the cost...
View ArticleCMS sends final ESRD bundle rule to OMB for review
CMS has sent the final rule for the ESRD Prospective Payment System and QIP to the Office of Management and Budget for review and clearance
View ArticleCMS retains 12% cut in drug payments for ESRD care, approves new QIP measures
Dialysis clinics won’t feel the pinch of the payment cut until 2016, the agency said, because of offsets in other areas of the bundled payment
View ArticleFinding the good news in the ESRD PPS final rule
CMS stuck to its guns in the final rule issued last Friday governing dialysis payments, imposing a 12% cut in the bundled payment over the next 3–4 years. But there will be some room for negotiating.
View ArticleCMS makes only minor changes in final ESRD QIP rule
With controversy continuing over the 12% cut to the IV drug portion of the Medicare bundled payment for dialysis treatments, little attention has been paid to CMS' finalized measures for the Quality...
View ArticleQIP tracks performance, but are the measures improving patient care?
January begins the third year of the ESRD Program serving as an incubator for Medicare’s efforts to tie payment policy with clinical performance. But it remains unclear if the Quality Incentive...
View ArticleCMS responds to queries about new measures in ESRD QIP rule
While there were very few changes from the proposed rule to the final rule of the 2014 edition of the End Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program, providers and renal associations sent some...
View ArticleFuture shock: Progress on kidney-related health policy issues in 2014
For several years running now I have been asked to write a column for the January Nephrology News and Issues predicting what I think might happen that year
View ArticleLatest DOPPS data shows slight dip in hemoglobins for dialysis patients
Data through August 2013 from the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study’s Practice Monitor shows a slight dip in hemoglobin levels compared to the previous quarter, but little change in other...
View ArticleCut to bundled payment will still hurt
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services stuck to their guns on Nov. 22 and released a final rule that includes a 12% cut to the IV drug portion of the bundled payment.
View ArticleESRD community benefits from new Medicare bill
The U.S. Senate approved legislation yesterday to keep on life support the SGR formula for paying Medicare physicians, and provide some important benefits to the renal community and pharmaceutical...
View ArticleFor CMS, one step forward, two steps back
Just when the agency pronounced its steadfast allegiance to deadlines it set for various agency initiatives, along comes Congress to show them how it's done.
View ArticlePresident signs SGR patch legislation
President Barack Obama Tuesday signed into law legislation that will provide a temporary patch for the unpopular SGR formula for paying Medicare physicians, and provide some important benefits to the...
View ArticleSmall pay increase for dialysis clinics in proposed rule for 2015
A proposed rule released by the CMS July 2 projects that the updates in the ESRD Program’s payment bundle for 2015 would increase payments to dialysis facilities by 0.3% to 0.5%, while rural...
View ArticleImportant deadlines for ESRD QIP, PPS, and 5-star rating system
The renal community has several approaching deadlines on proposed rules and various CMS-directed clinic reviews
View ArticleMedPAC urges CMS to delay 5-star rating system implementation
MedPAC said it is concerned that CMS intends to establish the rating system without addressing public comments
View ArticleKidney Care Partners wary of Grassley’s support for more home dialysis...
The coalition Kidney Care Partners said it does not support increasing the payment amount for the training, unless CMS adds new money to the system
View ArticleRenal community comments on the proposed changes to the ESRD bundle and ESRD QIP
View the comments submitted by advocacy groups, medical societies, and other renal organizations on the proposed payment system and the ESRD Quality Incentive Program
View ArticleCMS update policies, payment rates for dialysis facilities for 2015
On Oct. 31, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a final rule that will update payment policies and rates under the End-Stage Renal Disease Prospective Payment System for renal...
View ArticleOIG to review costs of ESRD drugs, questionable use of ambulance services to...
In fiscal year 2015, the Office of Inspector General will be examining the costs of ESRD drugs, and how they have changed, as well as review Medicare claims data to assess the extent of questionable...
View ArticleIn meeting, MedPAC recommends no update to 2016 payment rate for dialysis...
During a public meeting Dec. 18, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission presented a draft recommendation that Congress eliminate the update to the dialysis facility payment rate for calendar year 2016
View ArticleMedPAC final report: no increase in dialysis payment rate for 2016
Confirming an opinion released via a voice vote last month, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission announced in its March written report to Congress that dialysis facilities did not need an increase...
View ArticleTrends in prevalence of patient case-mix adjusters used in the Medicare...
Is a new recipe needed for the case-mix adjusters?
View Article
