Extension of Telehealth Flexibilities, Exclusion of “Doc Fix”

March 2025

On March 15, 2025, the President signed into law the Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025 (H.R.1968) to maintain federal funding and extend temporary Medicare telehealth flexibilities through September 30, 2025, which is the end of the fiscal year (FY). However, this spending package excluded the so called “doc fix” to reverse the […]

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60-Day Rule Policy Update

As of January 1, 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented final rule policy to the Affordable Care Act’s “60-day rule” which significantly changes how healthcare providers must report and return Medicare and Medicaid overpayments.   The policy now allows for a temporary suspension of the 60-day deadline to report and return overpayments […]

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Reinforcing Hospital Price Transparency Compliance

On February 25, 2025, the White House issued an  Executive Order to reinforce healthcare price transparency compliance for radiology and other specialties. The order directs the Departments of the Treasury, Labor and Health and Human Services (HHS) to implement and enforce healthcare price transparency policy. Specifically:  In November 2019, healthcare price transparency was mandated by […]

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Lawmakers Introduce Bill Boosting Physician Pay from April through December 2025

February 2025

Lawmakers Introduce Bill Boosting Physician Pay from April through December 2025   On Friday, January 31, 2025, a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers reintroduced a bill aimed at counteracting and surpassing a recent pay reduction for physicians that took effect at the beginning of the year. The Medicare Patient Access and Practice Stabilization Act of 2025, effective […]

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Replacement of Medicare’s MIPS Program

The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) was established by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) through the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015. As part of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) under MACRA, MIPS was intended to financially reward Medicare providers (who are reimbursed under Medicare Part B covered professional […]

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CMS Issues 2025 Telehealth FAQ

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) issued a new frequently asked questions (FAQ) for calendar year (CY) 2025. The Medicare physician fee schedule (MPFS) proposed and final rules published annually are the means by which CMS makes the telehealth changes for the ensuing year. This document can be found on the CMS website under […]

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2025 Telehealth Update

January 2025

On December 21, 2024, the American Relief Act (H.R. 10545) was signed into law. Among the key provisions is the extension of certain Medicare telehealth policy flexibilities for an additional 90 days, now set to expire on March 31, 2025. This extension ensures that Medicare beneficiaries can continue accessing telehealth services without interruption, maintaining the […]

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HHS Proposes HIPAA Security Rule Update Amid Data Breaches

On January 6, 2025, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a proposed rule to update the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule. This comes as an increasing number of large data breaches in healthcare are occurring, including the attack on UnitedHealth’s Change Healthcare […]

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Healthcare Settlements Total $1.67 Billion in 2024

The numbers are in for 2024, and they reveal that healthcare fraud investigations represent over half of settlements and judgments for the Department of Justice (DOJ). In a press release dated January 15, 2025, the Office of Public Affairs details the monies recovered and reported the highest number of Qui Tam actions in history were […]

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Government Shutdown Avoided, Medicare Cuts Remain

December 2024

The President signed a critical spending bill, the American Relief Act, 2025 (H.R. 10545) on December 21, 2024, averting a government shutdown but leaving significant gaps in healthcare provisions. The bill has drawn mixed reactions, particularly from the healthcare sector, as several key measures included in earlier bipartisan resolutions were ultimately excluded. Among the retained […]

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