Many detailed analyses of the giant budget bill just passed by House and Senate will appear quickly. It's 5593 pages (although only a svelte 7 mb, here.)
I'll just highlight a few headlines from Section "CC," healthcare law, at pages 4597 ff.
- Page 4599, S. 102, Lengthy section on quality measures and quality measure funding ($20M/year).
- Page 4631, S. 119, real-time benefits for patient prices. Seems to require tools embedded in EHR's to help patients and doctors select services while knowing prices. (Separately, of course, the bill contains a huge and complex section on surprising billing law.)
- For some insights into this space, see a November 2020 sponsored article in MedCity by RxREVU on real time pricing - here; links to white paper.
- Page 4642, S. 122, reduces copayments for colorectal cancer colonoscopy when it follows a positive FIT or Cologuard test or when it results in a biopsy.
- Page 4644, S. 123, benefits regarding mental health diagnosis and therapy via telehealth.
- Page 4647, S. 124, public-private partnership to fight fraud, including a third-party clearinghouse. If Entity X commits healthcare fraud against one health plan, it would be quickly circulated to others. This isn't entirely new but it sounds like it's being put on steroids.
- See the HFPP 2018 report on "lab fraud" here.
- Page 4656, S. 403, Medicare can direct-pay physician assistants (not only pay via a clinic or the name of the supervising physicians.)
- This is interesting law, a few words long, simply adds a date to make the current restriction apply only "for services before 1/1/2022." That's about how long the amendment is.
- Page 4771, S. 402. Allows post-renal-transplant patients enrollment in Medicare Part B "solely for the purpose of immunosuppressive drugs."
