While congressional Republicans spent much of September pushing for passage of the Graham-Cassidy “repeal and replace” bill, other time-sensitive legislative tasks were left to languish, including a September 30 deadline to...more
Even as Senators continue to consider “Graham-Cassidy,” the latest Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal legislation, insurance markets are already reacting to uncertainty and instability brought about by persistent GOP efforts to...more
As we reported last month, CMS’ proposed rule updating MACRA’s Quality Payment Program (“QPP”) for CY 2018 would extend and expand exceptions that would allow many practitioners to avoid participating in its Merit-based...more
In a proposed rule published Tuesday, August 15, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its intention to roll back a handful of payment models introduced under the Obama Administration. If...more
The Future of CSRs – A Tale Told in Tweets. In follow-up to our May 5, 2017 blog post, “ACA Cost-Sharing Reductions: An Uncertain Future,” on August 16, 2017, the Trump Administration made an announcement (Announcement) that...more
On June 20, 2017, CMS released its proposed rule updating MACRA’s Quality Payment Program (“QPP”) for CY 2018. At over 1,000 pages, the rule might not do much to simplify the already complex requirements of the QPP; however,...more
As reported by the New York Times in an article dated July 13, 2017, in an effort to crack down on fraud and abuse, and with a particular focus on opioids, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) is charging 412 individuals for...more
In Part VII of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we described the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (“BCRA”), the Senate GOP’s latest Obamacare repeal and...more
Caveat: As of the date of this writing, there are indications that revisions to the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (“BCRA”) are in the works and may be issued as soon as Friday, June 30, 2017. If a revised BCRA is...more
6/30/2017
/ Abortion ,
Affordable Care Act ,
American Health Care Act (AHCA) ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Individual Mandate ,
Medicaid ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Repeal ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration
Regardless of a patient’s diligence in selecting an in-network hospital, ambulatory surgery center, or other health facility for treatment, patients are still being saddled with surprisingly high medical bills that include...more
“Cost-sharing reductions” (CSRs) are one of the primary mechanisms under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to make health coverage affordable for consumers. CSRs are government payments to insurance companies for the purpose of...more
In Part V of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we outlined some of the key provisions of the American Health Care Act (AHCA). Roughly two weeks after our post...more
In Part IV of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we discussed a few post-inauguration developments with respect to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In this Part V,...more
3/10/2017
/ Abortion ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Employer Mandates ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Individual Mandate ,
Medicaid ,
Planned Parenthood ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Repeal ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration
In Parts I-III of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we considered the healthcare landscape before implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and explored...more
In Part II of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we considered potential healthcare market consequences of a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In...more
12/21/2016
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Exchanges ,
Health Savings Accounts ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Malpractice Insurance ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Preexisting Conditions ,
Repeal ,
Tax Credits ,
Trump Administration
In Part I of our blog series, Very Opaque to Slightly Transparent: Shedding Light on the Future of Healthcare, we discussed what the healthcare landscape looked like before the Affordable Care Act (ACA), how the law emerged...more
One thing that has become clear since the election of Donald Trump last week is that efforts to repeal or amend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will be a high priority legislative item for next year’s Congress and the incoming...more
Last week, on Wednesday, March 4, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in the highly publicized case of King. v. Burwell—a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act or “Obamacare” based upon what many would call the...more