Monday Morning Rounds with CMS

ICYMI, here is what has been happening at CMS.

Reminder: Register for CMS Web Interface and CAHPS for MIPS Survey Reporting for the 2020 Quality Performance Period by June 30, 2020 – Registration is required for groups, virtual groups, and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Entities that intend to submit data for the Quality performance category via the CMS Web Interface and/or administer the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Survey for the 2020 Quality performance period. To register, please log in to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) website.

CMS announced that the MITRE Corporation has published the membership of the independent Coronavirus Commission on Safety and Quality in Nursing Homes. CMS, under the leadership of President Trump and his Plan to Open Up America Again, seeks an independent review and comprehensive assessment of the nursing home response to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The agency tasked the contractor, MITRE, to solicit membership applications, select the members, and facilitate the Commission’s work. The Commission’s review will help inform current and future responses to COVID-19 and potential future infectious disease outbreaks within nursing homes.

Reminder: Registration for CMS Web Interface and CAHPS for MIPS Survey Reporting for the 2020 Quality Performance Period Closes on June 30, 2020 – Registration for groups, virtual groups, and Alternative Payment Model (APM) Entities that intend to submit data for the Quality performance category for 2020 via the CMS Web Interface and/or administer the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) for Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Survey closes at on June 30, 2020. Registration is required.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) is announcing that if you did not submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) for the Direct Contracting Model you now have the opportunity to do so for participation beginning in the first Performance Year. Once a LOI is submitted, you will have access to the Performance Year 1 application portal for the Direct Contracting Model Professional and Global options. View the portal. Applications for Performance Year 1 are due by July 6th, at 11:59 PM EDT. The start date for Performance Year 1 will be April 1st, 2021. There will be a second cohort of the Direct Contracting Model Professional and Global options that starts on January 1, 2022. CMS expects that the application period for this cohort will begin in the first quarter of 2021. Please note: A LOI will not be required to access the 2022 application portal.

As part of this administration’s longstanding commitment to lowering drug prices, CMS issued a proposed rule that would start to remove barriers to the development of payment models based on value for innovative new therapies. Therapies are coming to market today that fight disease in an entirely new way, including at the genetic level. While the impact of these therapies can be transformative, their costs are unprecedented. New approaches to payment are needed to allow the market room to adapt to these types of curative treatments while ensuring that public programs like Medicaid remain sustainable. Several proposals will also enhance CMS’s efforts to combat the opioid epidemic and make sure that opioid outpatient drug coverage is appropriate, medically necessary, and avoids adverse medical events. Learn more.

CMS is extending the Medicare Care Choices Model (MCCM) by one calendar year, through December 31, 2021, allowing more Medicare beneficiaries to access supportive care. Under the extension, participating MCCM hospices will be able to enroll eligible beneficiaries through June 30, 2021 and provide MCCM services for them through December 31, 2021. The extension will not affect the model’s other existing operations or policies. For more information on the model, please see its webpage.

CMS announced plans to end the emergency blanket waiver requiring all nursing homes to resume submitting staffing data through the Payroll-Based Journal (PBJ) system by August 14, 2020. The PBJ system allows CMS to collect nursing home staffing information which impacts the quality of care residents receive. The blanket waiver was intended to temporarily allow the agency to concentrate efforts on combating COVID-19 and reduce administrative burden on nursing homes so they could focus on patient health and safety during this public health emergency. View the memorandum to states and nursing home stakeholders.