CMS Proposes Changes to Hospital and Medicare Advantage Regulations

CMS has proposed a rule with a 2.4% hospital outpatient pay bump and cuts to the 340B program. Meanwhile, the agency is cracking down on fraud and proposing measures to lower Medicare costs and reduce spending on medications.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a set of changes to hospital and Medicare Advantage regulations, including a 2.4% increase in hospital outpatient payment rates. However, this increase will be partially offset by cuts to the 340B program, which provides discounts on medications to safety-net hospitals.

In a separate move, CMS has proposed a new rule aimed at cracking down on fraud in the home health industry. The rule includes provisions to ensure that home health providers are held accountable for their activities and to prevent overpayment for services that do not meet Medicare's requirements.

Additionally, the proposed rule includes measures to lower Medicare costs at hospitals and ambulatory service centers. One of these measures could save Medicare patients $1.1 billion on prescriptions, according to the Trump administration.