Proposed rule: Medicare Program; FY 2024 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update, Hospice Conditions of Participation Updates, Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements, and Hospice Certifying Physician Provider Enrollment Requirements

This proposed rule would update the hospice wage index, payment rates, and
aggregate cap amount for fiscal year (FY) 2024. This rule includes information on hospice
utilization trends and solicits comments regarding information related to the provision of higher
levels of hospice care; spending patterns for non-hospice services provided during the election of
the hospice benefit; ownership transparency; equipping patients and caregivers with information
to inform hospice selection; and ways to examine health equity under the hospice benefit. This
rule also proposes conforming regulations text changes related to the anticipated expiration of
the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). In addition, this rule proposes updates to the
Hospice Quality Reporting Program; discusses the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation
tool; provides an update on Health Equity and future quality measures; and provides updates on
the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, Hospice Survey Mode
Experiment.

Notice: Guidance Documents Related to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

This notice updates the guidance documents issued during the public health emergency (PHE). This notice is intended to provide clarity to stakeholders with respect to the guidance documents that will no longer be effective with the expiration of the PHE declaration and the guidance that the FDA is revising to continue in effect after the expiration of the PHE declaration.

Proposed rule: Telemedicine Prescribing of Controlled Substances When the Practitioner and the Patient Have Not Had a Prior In-Person Medical Evaluation

Under the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008 and Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) implementing regulations, after a patient and a practitioner have had an in-person medical evaluation, that practitioner may use telehealth to prescribe that patient any prescription for a controlled medication that the practitioner deems medically necessary. The Ryan Haight Act and DEA’s implementing regulations do not apply to other forms of telemedicine, telehealth, or telepsychiatry that are not otherwise addressed in the Controlled Substances Act. This proposed rule applies only in limited circumstances when the prescribing practitioner wishes to prescribe controlled medications via the practice of telemedicine and has not otherwise conducted an in-person medical evaluation prior to the issuance of the prescription.

Proposed rule: Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing

The proposed rule operationalizes the 1968 Fair Housing Act’s statutory obligation to affirmatively further fair housing by creating a structure for certain HUD participants to create Equity Plans that include a Fair Housing Analysis, Fair Housing Goals, A Description of Community Engagement undertaken, and Fair Housing Strategies to affirmatively further fair housing.

Proposed rule: Medicare Program; Contract Year 2024 Policy and Technical Changes to the Medicare Advantage Program, Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program, Medicare Cost Plan Program, Medicare Parts A, B, C, and D Overpayment Provisions of the Affordable Care Act and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly; Health Information Technology Standards and Implementation Specifications

This proposed rule would revise the Medicare Advantage (Part C), Medicare
Prescription Drug Benefit (Part D), Medicare cost plan, and Programs of All-Inclusive Care for
the Elderly (PACE) regulations to implement changes related to Star Ratings, medication therapy
management, marketing and communications, health equity, provider directories, coverage
criteria, prior authorization, passive enrollment, network adequacy, identification of
overpayments, formulary changes, and other programmatic areas.

Proposed rule: Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Advancing Interoperability and Improving Prior Authorization Processes for Medicare Advantage Organizations, Medicaid Managed Care Plans, State Medicaid Agencies, Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Agencies and CHIP Managed Care Entities, Issuers of Qualified Health Plans on the Federally-facilitated Exchanges, Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Eligible Clinicians, and Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals in the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program

This proposed rule is looking at advancing interoperability and improving prior authorization processes for Medicare Advantage organizations, Medicaid managed care plans, state Medicaid agencies, federal exchange health plans, and other federal programs.

MUC List Measures Proposed for Home Health and Skilled Nursing Facilities

The National Quality Forum (NQF) annually publishes a list of quality Measures Under Consideration(MUC) for future rule making and seeks public feedback on these measures. This information is then shared with relevant work groups of stakeholders who evaluate, discuss and make recommendations on the MUC measures.

Proposed rule: Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder (SUD) Patient Records

The proposed rule makes it make it easier for providers to share patients’ substance use disorder treatment records. Currently, a stricter regulatory regime protects the privacy of substance use disorder treatment records than that of standard medical records governed by the health privacy law known as HIPAA. Patients usually have to consent each time substance use records are shared. Under the proposal, providers would only need to get a patient’s consent one time to share substance use records.

Final rule: Calendar Year (CY) 2023 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update; Home Health Quality Reporting Program Requirements; Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Expanded Model Requirements; and Home Infusion Therapy Services Requirements

This final rule sets forth routine updates to the Medicare home health payment rates for calendar year (CY) 2023 in accordance with existing statutory and regulatory requirements. This final rule also finalizes a methodology for determining the impact of the difference between assumed versus actual behavior change on estimated aggregate expenditures for home health payments as result of the change in the unit of payment to 30 days and the implementation of the Patient Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) case-mix adjustment methodology and finalizes a corresponding permanent prospective adjustment to the CY 2023 home health payment rate.

Request for Information: National Directory of Healthcare Providers & Services

This request for information solicits public comments on establishing a National Directory of Healthcare Providers & Services (NDH) that could serve as a “centralized data hub” for healthcare provider, facility, and entity directory information nationwide.